Hall of Fame Gala — By Tommy Purser

Saturday night’s Jeff Davis High School Football Hall of Fame Gala lived up to its reputation of being one of the most enjoyable events I attend each year. This year’s event was particularly enjoyable to me for a lot of reasons.
Among those reasons was my chance to refresh my memories by having a chat with one of this year’s inductees, Charles Mitchell. I remember when Charles was just a kid, a middle schooler playing football. Folks then were saying they could hardly wait for the youngster to get to high school. I remember more about Charles than his prowess on the football field. When Charles was playing, as I recall, all of Onie B. Hill’s children were alive. Today, they are all gone including Ms. Onie’s daughter, Carolyn Mitchell, Charles’ mother.
Ms. Onie was a remarkable woman who raised a remarkable house full of children who, in turn, nurtured a remarkable bunch of Ms. Onie’s grandchildren. Charles was among that bunch. He was more than just a good football and basketball player, he was a good kid. Today, he’s grown up to be a good father, a good husband, and I had the honor Saturday of meeting his three children who struck me as being, well, remarkable
And because Charles was in Hazlehurst Saturday night, I was able to refresh my memories of one of Charles’ old teammates, Edward Hunter, another of the many kids I watched grow up in Hazlehurst. Edward was a big kid in high school. He’s even bigger today and his smile is just as big as it ever was. It was good to see Charles and Edward.
But the thing I enjoyed most Saturday was to see Rod Rentz justifiably honored as a new inductee into the Hall. Few people deserve the honor more than Rod. Rod has deftly guided hundreds of youngsters into the world of sports through years of coaching young recreation football and baseball players. Not only instilling into them the right way to play the game, but the right way to conduct themselves with dignity and honor. Teaching youngsters to be not only better athletes, but also better people.
Rod is in the battle of his life. Diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer, the effects of his battle showed as he reached out and clutched the podium to steady himself as his wife, Stephanie, read a prepared statement for him. A statement he perhaps couldn’t have read himself. As Stephanie finished, the crowd quickly got to their feet, giving Rod a heartfelt standing ovation. As I sat back down, I glanced across the table to see my daughter quietly wipe away a tear dropping from her eyes. Next to her, was my son, Tommy Jr., equally moved by the moment.
You see, Rod is more than just a great community coach to me and my family. To us, he IS family. Tommy Jr.’s wife, Jennifer, is Rod’s sister. Rod and Jennifer were raised by two of my favorite people ever — Shorty and Michelle Rentz. Shorty was Rod’s best friend. Michelle was Jennifer’s best friend.
I regret that Shorty and Michelle didn’t live to see their son get a standing ovation from a banquet room full of people who love their son. But there’s a part of me that believes they did, indeed, enjoy the night. It’s thoughts like that that keep me hopeful.