Atlanta Athletics HOF welcomes new class
HALL OF FAME
Three former outstanding Atlanta High School athletes will be honored Friday night at Rabbit Stadium just prior to kickoff of the Rabbit- Jefferson game.
Andrew Booty Jordan, Johnny Dees Barr and Casi Hendricks Blackburn will enter the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame as the Class of 2025. Each one had athletic careers here and beyond in college. Following a reception from 5-6:15 P.M. in the high school cafeteria for family and friends, the trio will be formally enshrined in the HOF. The ceremony will take place down on the field as each new inductee will be presented with a framed plaque copy. This is a replica of the individual black granite plaques added to the HOF Fame on the left wall at the entrance to Rabbit Stadium.
Casi Hendricks represents Lady Rabbs softball as she was a three-time All State softball pitcher who led her team deep into the State playoffs. During four seasons (2000-2003) Casi compiled a pitching record of 82 wins against only 13 losses. When not dominating opposing batters, she played first base and maintained a .350 batting average. Her senior season with the Lady Rabbs Casi was selected to the Texas High School All-Star game in Austin. In that game she drove in the winning run. From Atlanta, Hendricks went on to play college Division I softball at Centenary against some of the best University teams in the Southwest. Following college, she later returned to coach the Lady Rabbs in 20112013. Casi now teaches at Simms James Bowie ISD where her husband Chance Blackburn is the Athletic Director.
Andrew Booty Jordan is recognized as a prolific Rabbit athlete who earned 18 letters in Atlanta sports. An All-State halfback in 1953 Booty ran for 36 touchdowns in the 195254 seasons. However, he stayed real busy when not on the football field. Jordan was a key member of the first of only two Atlanta basketball teams to make the State tourney. The Rabbs lost out to Seminole but then came back to whip Freer for the thirdplace spot. Booty found time to run track and was a District tennis champion. Probably most remembered in his Rabb career is a run play for an extra point to beat Linden 7-6 and give Atlanta the District title over the previously unbeaten Tigers. Granted a football scholarship to Baylor, Booty played on the Cubs freshmen team in 1955. A serious leg injury during a summer job cut short his college playing days. Jordan went on to establish a dental practice in Lufkin from which he is now retired.
Johnny Dees Barr was an outstanding Rabbit quarterback in the mid-1960s. He led the Rabbs to an 11-game winning streak in 1964 which is the longest ever by an Atlanta football team. The streak took the team to the State quarterfinals where they lost a tight contest with Marlin. Johnny returned for his 1965 senior season and directed the Rabbs to another winning season. He also excelled as an All-District performer in basketball and track. Other honors were team Captain and voted Most Athletic. Oklahoma University recruited Johnny and he became a top-notch receiver for the Sooners. He set receiving records in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in 1968 and also played in the Orange Bowl. Following a brief high school coaching stint, Barr went on to coach at numerous Southwest Universities to include Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Kansas, Arizona State and finally Oklahoma State where he retired in 2021.
All three former Rabbits are well deserving to take their place in the Atlanta Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025.
The HOF was founded in 2018 and is funded through donations from Atlanta business firms and former Rabbit athletes and alumni. It exists to honor former outstanding athletes and to carry on pride in the great sports tradition established in Atlanta. Please help maintain our organization. Checks to Atlanta Athletics HOF can be mailed to P.O. Box 637, Atlanta, TX 75551.