Wayne Frazier was arguably Conecuh County's most accomplished athlete

As hard as it is to believe, Tuesday marked the two-year anniversary of the death of the man who was arguably Conecuh County’s most accomplished athlete.

Many of you will remember that Evergreen’s Wayne Frazier passed away at the age of 73 on March 11, 2012, and many of you remember his football playing days at Evergreen High School, Auburn University and the NFL. Frazier, who was nicknamed “Cotton,” was a force to be reckoned with on the football field and was one of only a few football players who could say that they started in the very first Super Bowl.

After a stellar high school career at Evergreen High School and several standout seasons at Auburn University, Frazier played four seasons as a center in the AFL. He started his career with the San Diego Chargers and was later traded to the Houston Oilers. He went on to play for the Buffalo Bills and ended his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.

In 1966, Frazier and the Chiefs won the AFC championship, which earned them a spot in the very first Super Bowl.

The first Super Bowl was played on Jan. 15, 1967 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles. The Chiefs played the Green Bay Packers. Other famous football players and coaches who participated in that game included Bill Curry, Jerry Kramer, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Buck Buchanan, Ray Nitschke, Hank Stram and Vince Lombardi.

It’s said that when the players’ names were announced over the loudspeaker that day during the pre-game introductions, that Frazier’s name happened to be the very first one called out. If you stop and think about that, it’s pretty cool that a guy from Evergreen was the first player introduced at the very first Super Bowl.

After his playing days, Frazier coached high school football for a while, including a four-year stint at W.S. Neal High School in East Brewton. From 1980 to 1983, he posted three winning seasons, finishing with a 23-17 overall record during that time.

Fans of The Courant’s regular Sports Flashback feature will know that Frazier’s name is a regular in that weekly column. Frazier’s name appeared in the paper frequently over the years, and I suspect that the only name that showed up more was his former football coach, Wendell Hart. For those of you who knew Hart, that’s not bad company to be in.

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This handy little baseball book appeared at No. 14 on this week’s Publishers Weekly trade paperbacks best-sellers list, and it’s full title is “Baseball America 2014 Handbook: The 2014 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings.” If you’ve never looked at one of these guides, they’re pretty neat. Not only does it give you inside details about the league’s rising stars, but it also contains a popular list of the league’s top 100 prospects. If you play fantasy baseball, you’ll know that this book is a “must read” every season if you want to be successful.