The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame unveiled its induction of five new members to its ranks, and the recipients of its special awards for 2024.
All members are former NFL players with Kentucky connections. The five new members will be inducted into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame at its 23rd-annual induction ceremony at the Purple Jacket Dinner on June 28 at the Downtown Hilton in Lexington, Kentucky and will bring the membership of the hall to 120.
This year’s slate of inductees includes some familiar names for college football fans in the state. The class includes Harry Douglas from Jonesboro, Georgia, who was first team Big East and second team All-American at wide receiver for the University of Louisville. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in 2008 and played in the NFL for 10 years, catching 310 passes for almost 3800 yards.
It also includes Kentucky Wildcats defensive standout Maurice Douglass of Trotwood, Ohio. He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1986, where he played nine years before finishing his 11-year career with the New York Giants. Douglass is currently a high school football coach in Ohio.
Rounding out the class is NFL pioneer Fred Lee Davis, who was born in Louisville in 1918, and attended Manual High School and the University of Alabama. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) in 1941. He won a championship with the Redskins and then another one with the Chicago Bears and was selected for the 1950 Pro Bowl. Davis is being posthumously inducted to the Hall.
Berea native Luke Stocker, who played for Madison Central and the University of Tennessee, was drafted in 2011 by Tampa Bay, and also played for Tennessee and Atlanta. Jack Doyle of Indianapolis played his college ball at Western Kentucky University. Doyle was signed by the Tennessee Titans in 2013 but played his nine-year career for the Indianapolis Colts. He was selected for the Pro Bowl in 2017, the first WKU player to ever play in that game.
In addition to the inductees, the group announced its special award winners for 2024. Art Shell, the first African-American to become a head coach in the NFL’s modern era, will be awarded the Blanton Collier Award for Integrity On and Off the Field.
Kentucky’s J.J. Weaver and Letcher County coach Junior Matthews will receive the Ron Butler Award for Character in Adversity. The Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame noted how Weaver used the experience of the murder of his father to fount the Perfect Fit Peer Support Group for grieving athletes. Matthews is being recognized for helping the people of Eastern Kentucky during the devastating floods in the area.
The Howard Schnellenberger Award for the High School Coach of the Year will be presented to coach Tyquan Rice of Paris High School.
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