Friday, Sept. 18 was a memorable day for 12 former Dark Horses, as the first-ever inaugural class of the Dark Horses Ring of Honor was introduced in front of a crowded Clinton High stadium during halftime of the football team’s matchup against Whiteville.
Bobby Robinson, Dennis Owens, Amy Wooten, Jeff Smith, Spell Carr, Karen Fox, Tonya Colwell, Terry Holland, Jimmy Raynor, Lamont Edwards, Fuzzy Lee, and Willie Jacobs were honored at the ceremony, and attendees received gift bags.
“I was totally honored at the fact that something that I used to do for fun will be there forever for other individuals to see and others to put their names beside our names,” Lee said in an interview about the honor Monday.
Lee was inducted for his contributions and achievements in track and field. He was also a former member of the Dark Horses football program that won a state championship in 1990.
When it was time for the introduction, the moment was unreal.
“They asked us to come down to the field and onto the track,” Lee recalled. “The biggest surprise for me was the fact that they indicated that they definitely wanted family to be there. I was able to accept that honor with my wife (Tammie), my kids, and my siblings since my parents are deceased. My family core is very close-knit, so it was a great feeling to just have them with me there; it was great.”
To be inducted into a class with many individuals who accomplished many feats in different sports was something that stood out to Lee.
“It was amazing, especially with the coaches,” he expressed. “With Coach Robinson and Coach Raynor, I was a part of their legacy because I got a chance to see them daily. That truly meant a lot, because I remember when I was a young kid, Coach Robinson was my driver’s ed instructor. Coach Raynor was a part of the football team; he was the most laid-back person, but the thing is, if you listened to what he said, he truly knew the game as well.”
That was especially true when it came to some of his peers at Clinton High.
“With Tonya Colwell, I knew her when I was younger, and she was just someone to look up to,” he continued. “She understood that practice and an extremely good work ethic paid off. She was definitely famous before famous was that. Then with Dennis Owens, I remembered his name when I was younger, but never had a chance to meet him. Being someone from Clinton, you always wanted to strive to be a part of the legacy of Clinton High School, especially football. Terry Holland, who doesn’t know him? To truly be reminded of the fact that he was from Clinton, this is what he did, and to see him on television when I was younger, coaching Virginia, it was amazing.”
Inductees were nominated by those throughout the community with applications to the Ring of Honor Committee. To know people felt strongly enough to place him in the inaugural class was a full circle moment for Lee.
“First and foremost, I’m nothing without God,” he said. “I’m not anything without my family, my mother, father, sister, brother, wife, as well as Clinton. At the end of the day, when I was growing up, you used to hear stories about athletes from Clinton and things they’ve done. It focused on football, basketball, and baseball. Then track and field fell into that category. Now we’ve expanded to swimming, more golfers, tennis players, and volleyball. The fact that Clinton, NC is where you find phenomenal, top-notch athletes is no longer just a myth or legend; it’s true. You have those types of individuals there. You have community leaders there, people who give back to the community. People who put into the athletics financially, emotionally. It’s just the fact that they support those student athletes, and we have to support them more now than anything.”
For Lee, it’s crucial, due to the changing landscape of high school sports in general.
“Just the way that high school athletics has taken a turn, it’s kind of like college NIL,” he emphasized. “You can have a kid transfer here, there and transfer out of the whole system of Sampson County. We have to understand that it’s not the monetary aspect of growing these kids, it’s the community embracing them and making sure they have all the tools that they need academically, even the support athletically.”
While making the first class was a huge honor for him, as the Dark Horses ring of honor grows, Lee hopes to see more of his teammates from the 1990 championship team inducted
“My 1990 state championship football team was one of the best,” he made his pitch. “We had athletes galore coming out of that class, and I hope that the community sees a way to vote those individuals into this ring of honor as well. At the end of the day, whenever I heard everyone clapping and cheering, it made me feel, at that point in time, that I did something right.”