(Publisher’s Note: Each year, a group of individuals consider student/athletes from the past for induction to the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Hall of Fame and those announcements were soon to begin when this Open Letter was published by LEDE News. Thankfully, Daryl “Boogie” Johnson was selected for the Class of 2020, but the induction ceremony was postponed until 2021 because of social distancing requirements and restrictions on large gatherings. Sooner or later, however, the former Kennedy Award winner finally will have his day.)
An OPEN LETTER to OVAC Hall of Fame Selection Committee Members:
Are you scared of the Boogie man?
Wait!
That question came out wrong. Let me try again.
Are you afraid of a man named Boogie?
Daryl “Boogie” Johnson? Ya know, the 1991 Kennedy Award winner as the best football player in the state of West Virginia? Only six Kennedy Award winners have played for OVAC since the honor was created in 1947, and that includes two-time winner Mark Cisar (1992-93) from Magnolia.
Four of them – Bob Kelley (Weir) in 1960, Eric McGhee (CCHS) in 1990, Cisar, and Quincy Wilson (Weir) in 1998 – have been enshrined, but Johnson and Keith Jeter from Weir High (1988) have not.
Now, I know a few of you are too young to remember watching him play, but many of you can recall that Johnson was quickly noticed by local sports scribes once he emerged from his sophomore year as a first-team OVAC selection and a second teamer for the local newspaper’s All-Valley squad. Every year after, Johnson’s name was listed first team on every local and statewide all-star squad during the next two years.
And then he went to Division I Oklahoma State, for crying out loud. Sure, injuries to knees and his collarbone ended his college career, but that did not erase his 2,062 rushing yards nor his 31 touchdowns during his final OVAC season as a Patriot. In three years playing for Park, Johnson scored 56 times and gained over 4,100 yards.
But wait; there’s more.
Johnson played baseball, too, and he was named All-OVAC year for three consecutive years while batting higher than .350 with team-leading stolen-base stats each season.
If his resume as a player isn’t enough, what about Johnson’s post-career contributions to the Wheeling area through the Little Patriots organization and his mentoring of not only his sons but every other player he’s ever coached at Wheeling Park? He also has filled a role model role for student/athletes of color, like C.J. Goodwin, Elijah Bell, and many, many others.
He’s made an enormous difference, as a player, and as a human being; that’s all.
Sincerely,
Fans of the Boogie Man
