By Skip Coopersmith
CANTON, Ohio – Former Defiance High School Bulldog and current Oakland University Men’s Basketball Head Coach Greg Kampe is a member of the inaugural class for the National High School Football Hall of Fame.
“I played in a time when football was king,” said Kampe, “It was during the ten-year war between Michigan and Ohio State; my senior year I played every down, I was the quarterback, the safety, the punter, the kicker, the punt returner, the kick returner.”
“I think I represented small-town, rural football in a time where football was king.”
Kampe graduated from Defiance High School in 1973, enrolling in Bowling Green State University the following fall as a member of the Falcons’ football squad as his new team went 6-4-1 in Kampe’s freshman year.
“I believe that I’m being honored, not so much for me, but for what I represented. I’m the guy they picked to represent Defiance, Ohio. On a Friday night, everybody would lock their stores, get in their cars, and drive to wherever the game was,” said Kampe, “It was a community event, the football season.”
“It’s not really honoring Greg Kampe, it’s really honoring what Greg Kampe represented. The word Defiance across my jersey meant way more than the word Kampe did in those days.”
Kampe joined more elite and recognizable names across the country in the football world.
This year’s 2023 NHS Hall of Fame class includes a plethora of recognizable, National Football League Hall of Fame inductees and worthy individuals. Kampe will be glorified among Peyton Manning, Eli Manning, Ted Ginn Sr., Jim Brown, Chris Spielman, Archie Griffin, Bernie Kosar, and others.
The inaugural induction occured this past summer on Sunday, July 30 at McKinley Senior High School in Canton, Ohio.
2023 NHS Football Hall of Fame Class
Archie Griffin
Archie Manning
Bernie Kosar
Chris Spielman
Cooper Manning
Don Nehlen
Eli Manning
Greg Cameron
Greg Kampe
Horace Sheffield
Jerry Ball Jr.
Jim Brown
Lomas Brown
Marcus Dupree
Marion Motley
Mike Doss
John “Showboat” Crowell
Kevin Mack
Tedd Ginn Sr.
Ray Freeman
Thom McDaniels
Paul Brown
Peyton Manning
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