Rhodes Athletic Hall of Fame
Greg Ritter is one of Rhodes’ all-time great running backs in football, earning both the J. Hal Daughdrill Award, given to the team’s most valuable player, and the National Football Foundation’s Scholar-Athlete Award.
He played all three running back positions his sophomore and junior seasons, before becoming the featured back in a new offense his senior year. When awarding Ritter with the Daughdrill Award, President Daughdrill was quoted as saying, “The spirit you portrayed in every game, and your punishing style of running, will long be remembered on Fargason Field.”
Ritter has etched his name in the Rhodes football record book in multiple categories, including career rushing yards (2,037 – 3rd), single season rushing yards (1,126 – 4th), and single season rushing touchdowns (11 – 4th). He was the first Rhodes player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, breaking the single season record held by Hall of Famer Steve Becton. In his career, Ritter recorded 17 touchdowns, averaged 5.0 yards per carry, and made 37 receptions for 320 yards. His senior season he garnered first team all-conference honors as a running back and was a two-time Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
Ritter was also a three-year starter for the Lynx in baseball, where he recorded a .292 batting average. He saw action in 92 games, made 68 hits, scored 46 runs, had 14 doubles, 26 RBI, and three home runs. In his career he yielded a very impressive .986 fielding percentage.
In addition to being an outstanding athlete, Ritter was also exceptional in the classroom. At graduation, he was presented the Seidman Trophy, awarded to the senior student-athlete with outstanding success both academically and athletically. He was also a member of Rhodes’ first graduating class of the M.S. in Accounting.
In recognition for his success and dedication on Fargason and Stauffer Fields, we are honored to induct Greg Ritter into the Rhodes College Athletic Hall of Fame this 15th day of November, 2019.
