The history of sports in Northern Kentucky goes back a long way. A very long way. Decades. Centuries.
We know you’ve seen these lists before, but this is a different and unique way of presenting our “50 sports icons in Northern Kentucky” as we’ll provide you one per day over the next 50 days.
Hall of Fames are everywhere in NKY, the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, High School Athletic Directors Hall of Fame, NKU, Thomas More and local high schools all have something to recognize their past.
We’ll preface this series by saying this, some of you may disagree with who should or shouldn’t be in the top 50 and that’s fine. Plenty are in the Hall of Very Good, but we feel these 50 are the one’s who stuck out to us.
Sports Editor Evan Dennison spoke and conferred with several local NKY sports history buffs to get their opinions and lists of their own and who should be “locks” for the 50 sports icons. We compiled each list and came up with the 50 of our own (maybe cheated a little by putting families in as one) to present over the next 50 days.
Hope you enjoy as summer time rolls on!
The 11th of the 50 sports icons is Irv Goode, the Boone County football star who the Rebels named their stadium after.
IRV GOODE
After two years at Holmes where he didn’t make the football team, Goode played his final two high school football seasons at Boone County.
Goode was named a Sporting News High School All-American for the Rebels in addition to all-conference and All-State by the Louisville Courier-Journal. The Boone County football team plays home games on Irv Goode Field. He then went on to play at the University of Kentucky.
Goode was a two-way player as a center and linebacker. A team captain in 1961 for the Wildcats, Goode was a First Team All-American by Time, Third Team All-Southeastern Conference by UPI and played in four all-star games.
His 13-year NFL career started in 1962 when he was drafted in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals with the 12th pick. It’s the highest a Northern Kentucky football player has ever been selected. His 13-year NFL career included playing for three teams, the Cardinals, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins from 1962-74. He also played tackle and was a long snapper. Goode played in 162 NFL games and was named to the Pro Bowl in 1964 and ’67. He won a Super Bowl ring with the Dolphins in 1974.
Since, he has been inducted into UK’s inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame Class (2005), Missouri Sports Hall of Fame (2018) and received the honor of Legend in the SEC in 2008.
See the 50 sports icons on a day-to-day basis over the next 50 days
— Day 1: Dave Cowens
— Day 2: Shaun Alexander
— Day 3: Homer Rice
— Day 4: Dicky Beal
— Day 5: Jared Lorenzen
— Day 6: Jim Bunning
— Day 7: Tom Ellis
— Day 8: Nate Dusing
— Day 9: Jim Connor
— Day 10: Steve Cauthen
— Day 11: Irv Goode
— Day 12: Stan Steidel
— Day 13: Kenney Shields
— Day 14: David Justice
— Day 15: Morgan Hentz
— Day 16: Eddie Arcaro
— Day 17: Nancy Winstel
— Day 18: Steve Flesch
— Day 19: Donna Murphy
— Day 20: Randy Marsh
— Day 21: Mike Yeagle
— Day 22: Derrick Barnes
— Day 23: Dale Mueller
— Day 24: Dave Faust
— Day 25: Kirsten Allen
— Day 26: The Oldendick family
— Day 27: Martin “Mote” Hils
— Day 28: Nell Fookes
— Day 29: Owen Hauck
— Day 30: Becky Ruehl
— Day 31: Tom Thacker
— Day 32: Sydney Moss
— Day 33: Bob Schneider
— Day 34: The Walz family
— Day 35: John Toebben
— Day 36: Pat Scott
— Day 37: Bob Arnzen
— Day 38: Joan Mazzaro
— Day 39: Frank Jacobs
— Day 40: Adrienne Hundemer
— Day 41: The Draud family
— Day 42: Bill Krumpelbeck
— Day 43: The Molony family
— Day 44: Allen Feldhaus
— Day 45: The Maile family
— Day 46: Maureen Egan Corl
— Day 47: Bill Aker
— Day 48: Maureen Kaiser
— Day 49: John Brannen
— Day 50: Mike Bankemper