ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Out of 33 former players inducted into Saturday night’s 2025 Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame, four of them represent the CSRA.
Washington-Wilkes’ Tom Nash (1922), Laney’s Chip Banks (1977), Washington County’s Robert Edwards (1992), and Butler’s Carlos Rogers (1999) are now immortalized in state history.
Tom Nash, who played edge for the Tigers, passed away in 1972 (66).
He played for three seasons at Georgia, including the 1927 “Dream and Wonder” team.
Following his 1927 All-American season, Nash would go on to play in the NFL for the Green Bay Packers where he was named an All-Pro in 1932.
Saturday night wasn’t the first time Nash was recognized for his efforts on the field.
In 1934, he was named to Georgia’s All-Time team, and would go on to be inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1972.
Washington-Wilkes also put Nash in the school’s first ever Sports Hall of Fame induction back in 1987.
In downtown Augusta, Chip Banks (66) played linebacker for the Laney Wildcats, before becoming the highest drafted pick of the four CSRA inductees.
Fresh off of four years with the University of Southern California, including a National Championship in his freshman year (1978), Banks was selected third overall by the Cleveland Browns in the 1982 NFL Draft.
In Cleveland, Banks was named the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year, as well as a four-time Pro Bowler in his first five seasons (1982, 1983, 1985, 1986).
Banks would spend 10-years in the NFL before retiring after the 1992 season.
Robert Edwards (51) currently serves Washington County’s head football coach, but his road to wearing the headset was a long one.
In high school, Edwards played both runningback and defensive back, landing him a roster spot with Georgia.
He played defensive back during his freshman year with the Bulldogs, then switched primarily to runningback starting his sophomore year.
Edwards was selected 18th overall in the 1998 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots.
In Foxborough, he ran for over 1,100 yards in his rookie season, before a significant knee injury sidelined his playing career until 2002.
Those would be the only two seasons Edwards would spend in the NFL, before playing the rest of his professional career in the Canadian Football League.
Robert, along with his brother Terrence, are one of four pairs of brothers who’ve been inducted to the Georgia High School Football Hall of Fame.
Finally, Carlos Rogers (44) was the closest of the four inductees to winning a Super Bowl.
Rogers played defensive back at Butler, which led him to moving a state over to play for Auburn.
In his four-years as a Tiger, Rogers broke up 40-passes, an Auburn football record that still holds to this day.
His explosiveness took him to the 2005 NFL Draft where he was drafted ninth overall to Washington.
Rogers spent six-years in the nation’s capital, before moving across country to play for the San Francisco 49ers.
In his three years in the Bay Area, Rogers and the 49ers made it deep into the playoffs, including a Super Bowl appearance in 2012 when his team fell 34-31 to the Baltimore Ravens.
Saturday night, Rogers took time to reflect on the career that led him to downtown Atlanta.
“It’s very humbling, I’m very blessed,” said Rogers. “Something I never thought of and dreamed of, putting on a jacket in any level. To be recognized as one of the best that came through Georgia of the thousands of athletes, I’m very bless for the opportunity to put on this jacket.”
The four CSRA inductees now share the same class as Georgia head coach Kirby Smart (Bainbridge), and Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton (Westlake).
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