They starred in Columbus. Now, they’ll be in Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame
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Two natives of Columbus are among the 40 members in the Class of 2023 elected into the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.
Former Spencer running back Ernie Green and former Carver linebacker Jarvis Jones are scheduled to be inducted with the class Oct. 21 in Atlanta.
They will join another Columbus native in the hall. Last year, former Spencer defensive lineman Otis Sistrunk was among the 36 inductees in the hall’s inaugural class.
Ernie Green
Green was a prolific running back on Spencer’s 1956 state champion and 1957 runner-up teams. He was the first Spencer football player to have his number retired (2018). After serving as senior class president, he signed with the University of Louisville.
From 1958-61, Green twice led Louisville in rushing and ran for more than 1,500 yards in his career. He was inducted into the Louisville Cardinals Ring of Honor.
The reigning NFL champion Green Bay Packers selected Green in the 14th round of the 1962 draft, but they traded him before the season to the Cleveland Browns for a seventh-round pick in the 1963 draft.
As a halfback and fullback, Green (6-foot-2, 205 pounds) matched well with the Browns. In 89 games over seven seasons, he gained 3,204 yards on 668 carries (4.8-yard average) and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 195 passes for 2,036 yards and 20 touchdowns.
Also known as an excellent blocker, Green helped pave the way for Pro Football Hall of Fame running backs Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly.
Green was selected to two Pro Bowls and played on four teams that won division titles for the Browns, including the 1964 NFL championship.
After the 1968 season, Green had surgery to repair torn knee cartilage. Based on medical advice, he retired before the 1969 season.
Green coached running backs for the Browns until leaving football in 1970 to work for Case Western Reserve University as assistant vice president for student affairs. In 1974, he became executive director and vice president of IMG’s Team Sports Division.
Forming his own company in 1981, Ernie Green Industries manufactured components for automobiles, healthcare, energy and other industries. The business expanded to 11 plants in six states, Canada, China and the Dominican Republic. In April, Iowa-based Engineered Plastic Components bought his company.
Jarvis Jones
Jones was one of the most highly recruited high school football players in Muscogee County history.
In 2009, more than 150 people attended his announcement in the Carver High School library, where he chose Southern California over finalists Florida, Georgia, LSU and Texas.
At 6-foot-3 and 226 pounds, Jones was among the Southeast’s most honored college football prospects, including U.S. Army All-American.
As a junior, he helped Carver win the Georgia High School Association 2007 Class AAA football state championship — the first state title in the program’s history — and was named the 2007 Class AAA Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia Sports Writers Association and Georgia Athletic Coaches Association.
That season, Jones notched 157 tackles (26 for loss), four sacks and two interceptions.
Although his statistics dropped to 77 tackles and four interceptions as a senior while missing several games with a broken thumb, Jones still was selected first-team all-state in 2008 by the AJC, GSWA and GACA and second-team All-American by USA Today.
Jones transferred from USC to Georgia after suffering a career-threatening neck injury that forced him to miss the final five games of his freshman season.
As a Bulldog, Jones was first-team All-SEC in 2011 and 2012, SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2012 and consensus first-team All-American in 2012.
Jones set UGA’s single-season sack record with 14.5 in 2012, which led the nation. He also led the nation with 24.5 tackles for loss and seven forced fumbles while missing two games with injuries that year. Despite playing only two seasons for UGA, he ranks third on the school’s career sacks list with 28.
The Pittsburgh Steelers selected Jones in the first round (17th overall) of the 2013 NFL draft. He played in 50 games (35 starts) over four seasons with the Steelers, producing 130 tackles (84 solo, 11 for a loss), six sacks, four forced fumbles, three recovered fumbles and two interceptions.
In 2016, the Steelers declined their fifth-year option on Jones as James Harrison replaced him in the starting lineup at outside linebacker. Jones signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2017, but they released him after he was injured before the season started.
Jones now is back at UGA, working as the football program’s player connection coordinator.
