Marino, Dorsett to be in town for golf tournament

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Saturday, July 25, 2009

NATCHEZ — Natchez native Hugh Green is being inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame, and he’s invited a few well-known friends to Natchez to help celebrate that accomplishment.

Pro football Hall-of-Famers Dan Marino and Tony Dorsett will be among those in Natchez participating in a charity golf tournament at Beau Pré Country Club next Saturday.

Marino and Dorsett were teammates of Green at the University of Pittsburgh in the late 1970s.

Green, a defensive end, is a college football Hall-of-Famer who finished runner-up for the Heisman Trophy in 1980, still the highest finish for a purely defensive player in the award’s history.

He went on to a 10-year NFL career with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins.

The golf tournament will tee off at 8 a.m.next Saturday morning at Beau Pré and will be followed by a meet and greet with the celebrities who are present.

In addition to Marino and Dorsett, former NFL standouts Morton Andersen, Mark Duper, Sammy Winder and Barry Kraus will be present.

The meet-and-greet will be at the Natchez Grand Hotel following the golf tournament.

The tournament fee is $135, which includes greens fee and lunch. The meet-and-greet is $50 per person.

Green said the money raised from the weekend will go towards the Ronald McDonald House in Jackson and the Boys and Girls Club of the Miss-Lou.

“What we’re doing is playing golf, socializing with people, with autographs and pictures,” Green said. “The overall concept of this is that I’m celebrating with friends my induction into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.”

Green said he is using the opportunity as a way to give back to the Natchez community.

“I had a foundation that gave a scholarship to a kid in town every year,” Green said. “I’m mature enough now as an older man that myself and my son decided we wanted to reorganize another foundation for next year. Everything we do will be totally Natchez oriented.”

And Green said his induction into the hall of fame has forced him to look into himself and what he can do for his community.

“I think what it has done with me is made me adhere to more involvement to the youth in Natchez,” Green said. “In the past, the involvement I had was very scarce. I want the opportunity for it to be something to try and bring Natchez together.”