Legendary referee Middleton going in
Official who worked last 64 years among group of 9 being inducted
Morris Middleton, who was still refereeing football games in his 64th year of officiating last fall, is one of nine new members of the Florida High School Athletic Association’s Hall of Fame.
Middleton, 84, has called football and basketball games for the Central Florida Officials Association since 1961 and worked seven state championship games in those sports. He also assigned refs to games as the CFOA assigning officer for football and basketball for more than 20 years.
“People like Morris, they’re the ones that laid the foundation for the CFOA and what it is today,” said Don Trawick, a CFOA official since 1963 and a 2011 FHSAA Hall of Fame inductee.
Middleton, who earned $2.50 a game when he began officiating in his home state of Alabama in 1956, is the fifth CFOA official inducted, joining Dick Pace, Trawick, Prince Pollard and Horace Cannady.
The Class of 2020 includes another referee, Bob McKinney, who officiated for the CFOA before moving to South Florida, and
James Colzie, who coached multiple sports in Miami and also officiated more than 4,000 FHSAA contests.
The two former athletes selected are Brooksville Hernando alum Jerome Brown, who is already a member of University of Miami and Philadelphia Eagles halls of fame as a football standout, and Rubin Carter, another former NFL Pro Bowler who was also a state shot put champion for Fort Lauderdale Stranahan and later a high school, college and pro coach.
The list includes former FHSAA Commissioner Ron Davis along with three coaches: Danny Green, who racked up 254 career wins at Baker County, Haines City, Lake City Columbia and Orange Park; Wayne Yancey, who won 600-plus baseball games and also coached football for Ocala Forest; and Karrmayne King, who won 500-plus games in both girls basketball and girls volleyball at Keswick Christian of St. Petersburg.
The Hall of Fame ceremony is set for Sunday, Sept. 27, in Gainesville.