Two men who grew up nearly three generations apart were standing 20 feet from each other on Friday night at the Statehouse Convention Center in downtown Little Rock.
Darren McFadden, 29, and Charlie Dearman, 81, starred in different eras, but they were headed to the same place -- the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame at the 59th annual ceremony, along with seven others.
McFadden, a two-time Arkansas Razorbacks football All-American and current NFL running back preparing for a run through free agency, stood with friends near an entryway to the banquet ballroom.
Standing nearby was Dearman, a two-way lineman during one of the University of Arkansas at Monticello's greatest runs of success.
Dearman was surrounded by UAM alumni and was included in the same Hall of Fame induction class with former UAM quarterback Sean Rochelle and the late UAM guard Dave Williams, whose noteworthy high school coaching career was highlighted by stops at Searcy, Carlisle, and a 23-year run of success in football and track at Pocahontas.
Williams was inducted posthumously, as was former Razorbacks linebacker Larry Jackson.
Dearman, a Warren native, is a retired funeral home owner who has lived in Monticello since his first year of college.
"This is such an honor," Dearman said. "I didn't dream this would ever happen for me, and I'm telling you, I've seen people here tonight that I haven't seen since the 50s. This is just great, particularly for a boy from little Warren, Arkansas. This is an honor that's just unbelievable."
McFadden, who said he had no idea where he would play in the coming NFL season after seven seasons with the Oakland Raiders and two with the Dallas Cowboys, echoed Dearman's sentiment.
"Man, this is an unbelievable honor, to be a guy of my age going into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame," McFadden said. "It's an honor and a blessing, and it was definitely surprising. I didn't even know I was being considered for it, and when I heard, I was at a loss for words."
Also inducted were Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson, longtime Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports editor/columnist Wally Hall, the late Larry Jackson, an All-Southwest Conference defensive tackle who played for the Razorbacks from 1975-1978, former Arkansas State University quarterback Tim Langford, and Jim Rasco, a multiple sports star at DeWitt High in the late 1950s and at Hendrix College in the early 1960s. He is now noted as an Arkansas and national sports historian and has introduced Arkansas Hall of Fame inductees for the past 27 years.
Anderson, daughter of Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, said she was stunned by the phone call that notified her about making the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame.
"I wanted to make sure they had the right number," Anderson said. "I thought they had to be calling for dad or somebody else. I was amazed, but really, I'm so proud to be from Arkansas, and I'm so proud of what Arkansas sports has been to this state. To be mentioned in the same breath as the people here is humbling. I mean, going in with Darren McFadden. I ran into him earlier, and it was like, oh, this is awesome. Really, this is just surreal to me."
Hall, a Little Rock native, became the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sports columnist in 1979 and has been among the most recognizable sports voices in Arkansas ever since. He has been sports editor since 1981.
"I never expected this to happen," Hall said. "When I got nominated, I said, 'Wow, that's a great honor.' To actually get inducted is beyond my wildest dreams."
After a moment of consideration, Hall said induction into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame was his ultimate professional honor.
"You know, growing up here, I would rather be in this Hall of Fame than any other Hall of Fame in the world," he said.
Sports on 03/04/2017