Southfield High School’s Top 10 Most Famous Athletes of All Time

Former pro football player Tarrence McEvans still comes to Southfield High School once a year to play in the Students vs. Staff Basketball game. He plays on the staff team because he is a teacher in the district at Levey Middle School.

Baseball card courtesy of Tarrence McEvans

Former pro football player Tarrence McEvans still comes to Southfield High School once a year to play in the Students vs. Staff Basketball game. He plays on the staff team because he is a teacher in the district at Levey Middle School.

This year – 2016 – marks the final chapter in Southfield High School’s sports legacy. Southfield High School plans to merge with its cross town rival, Southfield-Lathrup High School in the fall. The Blue Jays will be no more.

In recognition of the new beginnings, the school is adopting a new mascot – the Warriors – as well as a new name – Southfield A & T (Southfield High School for the Arts and Technology) –  and a combination of the two schools’ colors: red, white and blue.

The school in its 65 years of existence has produced a number of sports heroes and set state records as both teams and individuals. Here is a recap of the school’s greatest athletes from the past six and a half decades of Blue Jay sports history, according to a panel of  past athletic directors from Southfield High School who were interviewed by The Southfield Jay:

Southfield High School’s Top 10 Athletes

Ted Simmons – Class of 1967

(Baseball, Football) Simmons is considered one of the best hitting catchers in Major League baseball history, and he honed his skills at Southfield High. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals as their first round pick in the 1967 Major League Baseball Draft.  Simmons broke Johnny Bench’s nine-year run as the starting catcher for the National League All-Star team when he was elected to be the starting catcher for the National League in the 1978 All-Star Game.  Baseball historian Bill James, in his book, The Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract,  ranked Simmons tenth all-time among major league catchers. Simmons also played football for the Blue Jays in high school.

Vincent Bean – Class of 1980

This photo of Vincent Bean has for years been on display in a school showcase. This is a photo of a photo, taken through glass because the school does not allow removal of the photo. When the high schools combine, this and other showcases will likely be cleared to make room for the new high school's sports history.
Zaire Marthrel
This photo of Vincent Bean has for years been on display in a school showcase. This is a photo of a photo, taken through glass because the school does not allow removal of the photo. When the high schools combine, this and other showcases will likely be cleared to make room for the new high school’s sports history.

(Football, Basketball, Track) In his senior year, he was named to three all-state teams:  football, in which he scored 15 TDs; basketball, in which he averaged 20.9 points; and track.  He was the Midwest long jump champ with a leap of  24 feet and 1 inch.  He went on to star in football and track at the University of Michigan and then returned to Southfield High School, where he is a social studies teacher. A showcase of his accomplishments is still on display in the hallway near the school’s field house.

Torin Dorn – Class of 1986

(Football, Track)  Dorn was named the number one athlete at the 1984 Free Press Dream Team High School Football Banquet.  He was 1985 Michigan Class A State Champion in the 400-meters.  His time is still a SHS school record.  He won the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter dashes at the All Oakland Country meet the same year.  He went on to play football as a running back at the University of North Carolina.  After graduation, Torin played cornerback seven seasons for the Los Angeles Raiders (1990–1994) and the St. Louis Rams (1995–1996).

Otis Floyd – Class of  1995

(Football, Track)  He was 1995 Michigan Class A State Champion in the 300-meter Intermediate Hurdles.  Floyd played five seasons for the University of Louisville and went on to become a ferocious linebacker in the Canadian Football League.  He won a Grey Cup championship in 2001 with the Calgary Stampeders, and then again in 2006 with the BC Lions.  Floyd announced his retirement in 2011, ending an 11-year career.  Floyd played 164 games, with Edmonton (2000), Calgary (2001-03), B.C. (2004-08) and Hamilton (2009-2010), recording a total 588 tackles and 39 sacks.  He was a  three-time West Division all-star.

Rocky Roe– Class of 1968

(Baseball) Roe became a Major League Baseball Umpire.  He officiated in the 1990 and 1999 World Series, as well as the 1984 and 1994 All-Star Games. Roe was the home plate umpire on June 27, 1987, when Mark McGwire had the first three-home-run game of his career, and was the second base umpire on September 14 of the same year when Cal Ripken, Jr. ended his record streak of 8,243 consecutive innings played.  Roe was behind the plate for the final game at Tiger Stadium. He is in the Eastern Michigan University Hall of Fame as a baseball player.

Gabe Watson– Class of 2001

(Football, Wrestling, Track) Watson was a four-year football starter, playing multiple positions, including Offensive tackleDefensive tackle, punter, and place-kicker. At Southfield High, Watson earned All-State honors as both offensive and defensive tackle. He rated number one on The Detroit News Blue Chip list and was named to their Dream Team. He went on to play football for The University of Michigan and was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2006. He signed with the New York Giants on August 2, 2011, but was released during final cuts on September 3, 2011.

After playing football for Southfield High School and Western Michigan University, Tarrence McEvans went on to play cornerback for Calgary in the Canadian Football League.
Courtesy of Tarrence McEvans
After playing football for Southfield High School and Western Michigan University, Tarrence McEvans went on to play cornerback for Calgary in the Canadian Football League.

Tarrence McEvans – Class of 1993

(Football, Basketball) The high school running back also played free safety and kicker for the Blue Jays. He was all-league in football and earned a scholarship to Western Michigan University, where he was a strong safety. He was nominated as Mid-American Conference (MAC) player of the year the year Randy Morris won the honor. Like Otis Floyd, McEvans went on to play for the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League and in his first year with the team (1998), they won the Gray Cup, which is Canada’s version of the Super Bowl.  At present, McEvans is a gym teacher at Levey Middle School, where he also coaches girls basketball boys basketball girls volleyball and boys and girls track.

Janeen Jones – Class of 1990

(Cross Country and Track)  Jones is the most decorated women’s athlete in Georgia Tech history, earning four All-America honors and six ACC Championships.  She was named the 1994 ACC Outdoor MVP and Georgia Woman of the Year.  She earned Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering in 1995 and 1998, respectively.  She died on Christmas Eve 2008 of injuries suffered in a car accident nearly a year earlier.

Bridgette Owens— Class of  2010

Bridgette Owens demonstrates her speedy hurdling skills. This photo was taken when Owens was a junior in high school. She was training for the Olympics even while in high school.
Lindsey Turner
Bridgette Owens demonstrates her speedy hurdling skills. This photo was taken when Owens was a junior in high school. She was training for the Olympics even while in high school.

(Track) Owens established a Michigan high school record with her time of 8.35 in winning the state championship in the 60 hurdles.  She won a pair of state outdoor championships in the 100 hurdles in high school. She enrolled at Clemson University on a track scholarship and ranks first in Clemson history in the 100 hurdles and second in the 60 hurdles. She transferred to The University of Florida, where she holds the school record for the 100-meter hurdles. At present, she is training for the U.S. Olympics.

 

Lindsay Bond – Class of  2001

(Track) Bond is a three-time all-county, all-region and all-state track star in the 100-meter hurdles and 300-meter hurdles.  In 2001, she was named All-America in 60-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles.  At the University of North Carolina she was member of the 2002 ACC Outdoor Champion 4×400 Relay Team, and was a two-time All-ACC  in the 4×400 relay and the 400-hurdles. She was a five-time scorer in the ACC Outdoor Championships (400-hurdles, 4×100 relay, 4×400 relay, 400-hurdles, 100-hurdles), and a three-time scorer in the ACC Indoor Championships (60-hurdles).

Each and every athlete on this list was a Southfield High School Blue Jay. Even though there will be a new school emerging this fall, these athletes left their mark.