Visit www.middletownjournal.com to find out if the board took action on the Cris Carter Field proposal. You can also read all about it in Wednesday’s newspaper.
It took Cris Carter 11 years after his illustrious professional career ended to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
He’ll have to wait a little longer to possibly have the field where he starred for Middletown High School to be named in his honor. MHS teacher Mark Kerns gave a passionate — and far longer than the allotted three minutes — plea for the Middletown Board of Education to name the Barnitz Stadium football field the Cris Carter Field.
Earlier in the day, Kerns called naming the field after Carter, the school’s most recognized football player, “a no-brainer.”
The board listened to Kerns, a letter he read from Bill Conley, Carter’s high school coach; Al Milton, who quarterbacked the Middies when Carter played; and the Rev. Michael Bailey as they all echoed the accolades of Carter, a 1984 MHS graduate.
While Middletown board president Marcia Andrew said the board was in favor of the “concept,” she wanted Kerns to meet with George Long, the district’s business manager, to coordinate the effort and assure no one is “overstepping” since the district is trying to raise private money to renovate part of Barnitz.
Andrew wants Long and Kerns to eventually make a recommendation to the board.
Earlier in the day, Long said the district will not “define” possible upgrades to Barnitz Stadium until private funding has been secured.
After high school, Carter played at Ohio State, spent 16 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Minnesota Vikings, and will be inducted Aug. 3 into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
Carter will be in Middletown May 7 for Cris Carter Hometown Appreciation Day. That night, Carter will be a keynote speaker at the Pigskin Roundball Spectacular, along with former Middie great and NBA hall of famer Jerry Lucas and Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison at the Manor House in Mason.
Kerns said he’d like to have the field named as soon as possible. A few weeks ago, the court at Wade E. Miller Gym was named the Jerry Lucas Court, as was the court at Sunset Park.
Kerns said there are more than 18,000 cities in the country with populations similar to Middletown, and Middletown is the only one with a graduate in both the NBA and Pro Football halls of fame. He called Carter the best football player from Ohio, narrowly beating out Roger Staubach, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback who graduated from Purcell High School in Cincinnati.
“This is nothing but a big positive,” Kerns said.
Then he referenced Forbes magazine that several years ago named Middletown one of the “fastest dying towns” in the country.
Kerns said Middletown is experiencing a 360-degree turnaround. Then he added: “This can be the exclamation point that shows a total reversal. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Before the Spectacular, Carter will tour the schools he attended, then participate in a community celebration at Barnitz Stadium. Kerns said he has been contacted by the Pro Football Hall of Fame about the Carter celebration and interest from the national media. He also hopes to establish a scholarship in Carter’s name.
Kerns predicts the May 7 event will be the “biggest day this city has ever had.”
Kerns said he understands why some people have been critical of Carter for not giving back to the Middletown community more. But he said Carter, now an ESPN football analyst and an ordained minister, is “one of the most giving people” he’s ever met. He said when this year’s boys basketball team played in a tournament in Florida, Carter was the first one to greet the team. Others have said that Carter dined with the team and picked up the tab.
In 1994, Carter, now 47, was named the winner of the Bart Starr Award and in 1999 received the Walter Payton Award by the NFL for his contributions and humanity work.
“He the most transformed person I know,” Kerns aid. “He’s totally different person since he left Middletown.”
He called the Carters, who lived in People’s Place Apartments, under the shadows of Barnitz Stadium, “the most resilient family” he ever met.
“They absolutely love Middletown,” said Kerns, who is retiring after this school year.
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