BELLE GLADE — Jessie Hester never believed he was better than anyone while growing up in the nation’s most fertile region when it comes to producing football players.
Hester, the former standout wide receiver, admits there were more talented athletes who were never all-state, who never had a chance to attend a school like Florida State and become an All-American. who were never selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.
And he knows what separated many people like him and others who made it so far in sports — like his fellow inductees into the inaugural class of the Muck City Sports Hall of Fame — from those left behind came down to simple decision-making.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to play college ball and play professionally and I know guys better than me didn’t get that opportunity for (various) reasons like bad decision making,” Hester said.
“We didn’t come out in the best circumstances, but that didn’t make me go and do the wrong things. There’s no reason to do that. You can go cut grass, pick up trash in people’s yards, whatever . you have to do to get a few bucks in your pocket. Go do it, there’s no shame in hard work. Don’t use anything as an excuse for why things are going wrong. Pick yourself up and go get it .”
And for many of those who do, recognition may one day come from the Muck City Sports Hall of Fame.
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Hester, who played for four NFL teams and caught 373 passes for 5,850 yards and 29 touchdowns; Pro Football Hall of Famer Rickey Jackson; Super Bowl 43 MVP Santonio Holmes; and 12-year NFL linebacker Jimmy Spencer were recognized Friday during Glades Central’s preseason game against Miami’s Booker T. Washington.
Also in the inaugural class are football coach Milton Watson, basketball and track star Evette Lyman and wrestling standout Jerry Seymore.
They were inducted June 5 at the Dolly Hand Cultural Center for the Arts on the campus of Palm Beach State College Belle Glade.
The Muck City Sports Hall of Fame will honor athletes and contributors from Belle Glade, Pahokee, South Bay and Clewiston, four schools with a combined 20 state football titles. It was launched by the Muck City Project, which focuses on preserving and recognizing the region’s history.
The project notes that more than 80 NFL football players and 400 college football players planted their pods in the rich soil off the southern shores of Lake Okeechobee, all starting to chase rabbits forced from the cane fields during the burning season. Urban Meyer once called the Glades, “the fastest place in the whole country.”
Many have gone on to greatness and made their mark in small college towns and big NFL cities. And no one will forget their roots.
“The boys have been all over the world, they’ll always call on Muck, just to let the world know where they’re from,” Hester said.
And a hall of fame that recognizes the best from an underserved community is much more than names on banners and halftime ceremonies.
It transcends sports.
More than anything, this kind of recognition can be an inspiration to the seemingly endless stream of talent coming from an area where resources are limited. Success stories like Hester and Jackson and Holmes and Spencer and many more to come can motivate future generations when they hear their stories.
“It meant more to them to be inducted into the Muck Hall of Fame than a lot of the fame they got on the national stage, because it came from the people who knew them best and knew the living conditions and the struggle they had to go through. to be where they are today,” said Jonathan Mann, president of the Muck City Project.
The strength of this hall of fame will be different from a small, rural region in the country, especially one with a population of just over 40,000.
The inaugural class is a trial.
Name another regional hall of famer in which Fred Taylor, Anquan Boldin, Andre Waters, Louis Oliver, Reidel Anthony or Janoris Jenkins couldn’t crack its inaugural class.
17th leading rusher in NFL history, NFL Man of the Year, four-time leading rusher for the Philadelphia Eagles, a second-team All-Pro, a first-round pick, a Pro Bowler.
And the list goes on and on.
“They had to flip coins to make that decision about who would get in and who wouldn’t,” Hester said. “You just have such a long list of guys who could easily be there.”
One day they will.
Tom D’Angelo is a reporter at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at [email protected].