In 1969, preparing for the Loudon County Centennial Celebration, Lenoir City News-Banner Sports Editor Tommy Bradshaw and a group of local sports enthusiasts from the LC Quarterback club accepted a mandate from the Editor of the paper to select the most outstanding athletes to have ever played for the high school.

THUS WAS BORN THE LENOIR CITY HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS HALL OF FAME.

From the Spraker brothers and Vaughn Browder in the early 1900's to the greatest of all Lenoir City athletes Cecil Thomas in 1925, to the undefeated football teams in the 1930's and '40's, the state basketball Champions of 1930 and 1958, to the baseball teams who always provided fans with the excitement of great hitting and no-hit pitching, to the Lady Panthers greatest scorer, Marietta Blackburn in 1974, to the 1996 State Decathlon Champion, the State Soccer Champions and the State Discus Champion of 1998, the State High Hurdles Champion of 1999, to the Lady Panthers State Softball Champions of 2004, and to the athletes who have gone on to star in college and in the professional world, the athletic program at Lenoir City High School has provided the local fans with excitement and pride and the opponents a fear to come into the Panther Den.

The HALL OF FAME became dormant in 1973 but was reactivated in 2003 when another committee was formed to continue the tradition. The new committee, in the beginning, set high standards for election to the Hall of Fame. This Committee adopted new eligibility criteria including the rule that the athlete nominated must receive at least 75 percent of the vote from the Voting Committee and that any outstanding contributor, whether it be a coach, administrator, official or promoter of the Lenoir City High School sports program would also be eligible to enter the Hall.

They decided that the members should be officially recognized with an induction ceremony at which time they are presented with a plaque and by having their picture placed on the Wall of Fame. All surviving members are also presented with a Hall of Fame ring-the crowning achievement, symbolic of the very best to have ever played sports at the school or for their outstanding contribution to the program.

The dream of any athlete from the moment he or she steps on a playing field or court is to be the very best. In the quest to be the best, the athlete then strives to attain the next plateau - that of being elected to the Hall of Fame for that sport.

Very few are able to achieve this goal, but those who have been, or will be in the future, elected to the Lenoir City High School Sports Hall of Fame have accomplished this through hard work, motivation and dedication as well as proper teaching and coaching.

Located in the newly renovated football stadium, the Lenoir City High School Sports Hall of Fame Archives are open by appointment only and is home to pictures and profiles of those athletic greats and inducted since the 1970 creation. Also prominently displayed are individual pictures of coaches of the early football, basketball and baseball teams, team pictures, helmets, baseball caps, championship jackets, and other memorabilia. Trophies of championships at district, regional, and state levels are also displayed.

Those members who have been elected and inducted into the Lenoir City High School Sports Hall of Fame may be found in the Members section in alphabetical order with a link to his or her biography and photo.