GHSF Daily looks at state's best over last 25 years.
The most famous preseason honor in Georgia football for the past 25 years has been the Super 11 team.
It's a look at the state's best 11 players based on their accomplishments on the field and their value as recruits.
Georgia High School Football Daily chose this year's team for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which began the tradition of the Super 11 in 1985.
Here is a look at the all-time Super 11 over those 25 years. The group includes several college All-Americans and NFL Pro Bowl players and one Heisman Trophy winner.
It doesn't include a few notables such as former two-time consensus All-American David Pollack of the University of Georgia and Shiloh High School and Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown of Cartersville High. They didn't make the Super 11 in their senior seasons.
Here are the best players who did make the Super 11:
Champ Bailey, Charlton County (1995): Bailey played lots of positions at Charlton County, a small school on the Florida border. He did the same at the University of Georgia, where he won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s best defensive player in 1998 but also caught 47 passes. In 1999, Bailey was a first-round pick of the Washington Redskins. He’s made the Pro Bowl eight times and been named All Pro three times.
Eric Berry, Creekside (2006): Berry played quarterback in high school, but it was known then that he’d become a strong safety in college. He was the No. 1 recruit out of Georgia in 2007, and in 2009 at the University of Tennessee, he became only the second former Georgia high school player since Herschel Walker in 1981 to become a consensus college All-American as a sophomore. The other was former Shiloh High defensive lineman David Pollack at the Univeristy of Georgia (Pollock did not make a preseason Super 11 team in high school).
Garrison Hearst, Lincoln County (1989): Hearst was the all-classification high school player of the year in 1989, when he led his high school team to its third Class A title in his four years on campus. At the University of Georgia, Hearst was third in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1992. He played 10 years in the NFL, rushing for 7,966 yards, and made the Pro Bowl in 1998 and 2001.
Calvin Johnson, Sandy Creek (2003): Johnson was the star player on a 10-0 high school team that was upset in the first round in 2003. He was the top recruit in Georgia and later an All-American at Georgia Tech and won the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver in 2006. He was the No. 2 overall pick in the NFL in 2007 to the Detroit Lions. He caught 78 passes last season, and his 12 touchdown receptions for an 0-16 team led the NFL.
John Kasay, Clarke Central (1986): Kasay and Chris Gardocki of Redan (1987) are the only place-kickers ever to make a Super 11 team. Kasay’s 1,634 points scored rank seventh in NFL history. No. 5 on that list is former Brookwood kicker Jason Elam, who did not make the Super 11 team. Kasay, a three-year starter at the University of Georgia, won a high school state title at Clarke Central in 1985.
Jamal Lewis, Douglass (1996): Lewis is a common choice among recent Georgia coaches as the best player they’ve seen in high school. He was an All-America player at Tennessee. He’s entering his ninth NFL season. In 2003, he rushed for 2,066 yards, the second-best total in NFL history. In 2008, he became the first former Georgia high school player to surpass 10,000 yards rushing in his NFL career.
Marcus McNeil, Cedar Grove (2001): McNeil played for mediocre high school teams and failed to make first-team all-state, even after making the Super 11 team. Perhaps he was viewed more as a project for the future. He was already 6-foot-6 and 300 pounds. But McNeil was an outstanding college player (All-SEC in 2004 at Auburn) and the first Georgia player taken in the 2006 NFL Draft. In three seasons with the San Diego Chargers, he’s made the Pro Bowl twice.
Marcus Stroud, Brooks County (1995): Stroud played on Brooks County’s 1994 Class A championship team as a junior and became a Super 11 player as a senior. He became a first-round pick in the NFL out of the University of Georgia in 2001 and has played in three Pro Bowls (2003, 2004, 2005) and was first-team All Pro in 2005.
Charlie Ward, Central of Thomasville (1987): Ward is one of three former Georgia high school players to win a Heisman Trophy. The others (Herschel Walker in 1982 and George Rogers in 1980) came before the Super 11 teams. Ward was the Class AAA offensive player of the year at Central of Thomasville in 1987 (the school is now known as Thomas County Central).
Hines Ward, Forest Park (1993): Ward was a run-and-shoot quarterback in high school. At the University of Georgia, he was a starting quarterback and tailback before settling into his best position, wide receiver. Entering his 12th season with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Ward has 800 career receptions, four Pro Bowl appearances, two Super Bowl championship rings and one Super Bowl MVP Award.
Eric Zeier, Marietta (1990): Zeier passed for more than 2,000 yards as a senior at Marietta and was the No. 1 recruit of the state. He left the University of Georgia as the all-time passing leader with 11,153 yards. Zeier played six seasons in the NFL but started only 12 games.
Todd Holcomb publishes Georgia High School Football Daily, a free email newsletter. To sign up, go here.
