[3/25/04]Seven football players and a longtime Jackson sports editor will lead the class of 2004 into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame on April 2 in a banquet at the Vicksburg Convention Center.

The Hall inductions will mark the third straight year the event has been in Vicksburg, and interest this year already is surpassing last year.

“This event has had a lot of success the last two years in Vicksburg,” said Walter Reed, chairman of the Jackson Touchdown Club, the body that puts on the event. “The City of Vicksburg and the businesses in the city have been very supportive of this event.”

Last year, 860 tickets were sold, and Reed said the pace this year should surpass that number. Tickets for the banquet are on sale still at $75 per person, and tables of eight are on sale for $600.

“Because of the success of the past two years, and the continued assistance from Jimmy Heidel, the City of Vicksburg and the mayor, we are pleased to be coming back,” Reed said.

In addition to the eight inductees, the banquet will honor former Ole Miss quarterback Eli Manning as the state’s amateur athlete of the year. Ex-Alcorn State star quarterback Steve McNair, now with the Tennessee Titans, will be honored as the professional athlete of the year, Reed said. Both are scheduled to attend.

Warren Central football coach Robert Morgan also will be honored by the Central Mississippi Chapter of the American Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame for his years of service in amateur athletics.

Redwood native and Vicksburg resident Johnny Brewer, an Ole Miss All-American who went on to a stellar career in the NFL, leads the class of eight. Brewer earned first-team All-SEC honors as a junior and senior in 1959 and 60.

Brewer played seven seasons with the Cleveland Browns before finishing his career with the Saints.

Mississippi State’s Johnie Cooks, the highest-ever draft pick selected from Mississippi when he was taken second overall by the Baltimore Colts in 1982, and former Mississippi Valley State quarterback Willie Totten also will be honored.

Ex-Washington Redskin Eddie Khayat, former Murrah football and track coach Jack Carlisle and longtime Gulfport High football coach and athletic director Lindy Callahan are all scheduled to attend.

Lee Baker, the longtime sports editor of the Jackson Daily News and sports writer for The Clarion-Ledger will be honored posthumously along with All-American Southern Miss tackle Don Owens.

“This is an outstanding class of great athletes and coaches,” Reed said.

IF YOU GO: Friday, April 2 6:30 p.m. Vicksburg Convention Center – Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame banquet. Tickets are $75. For tickets, call (601) 853-6041.