CANTON, Ohio — Denny Martin and Steve Hammon have been coming to the Ohio High School Football State Championship weekend for 30 years.

What You Need To Know

  • Denny Martin and Steve Hammon have attended Ohio high school football state championship weekend for 30 years

  • They said they've attended almost 180 state championship games

  • They plan to continue the tradition 

“We started back in ’95," Martin said. "I don’t remember why other than we just 'hey, let’s go over to the games."

“You know it’s just exciting and it’s just good," Hammon said. "It feels great to be around all the excitement,” Hammon said.

Martin played in a state championship game for Ayersville High School in 1986. He said Ohio is one of the top states in the country for high school football.

The only year they weren’t in attendance at state championship weekend was in 2020, when no fans were allowed to attend. Other than that, their tradition has continued each and every year.

Both Hammon and Martin’s favorite part of the weekend is seeing kids make their dreams come true.

“There’s so many schools here that we see that have won multiple ones, but it's always neat to see those schools that get that first one,” Martin said.

“Especially the lower divisions, the smaller communities and stuff really show a lot of support for their schools,” Hammon said.

The pair said that they’ve been to more than 175 state championship games. 

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