George Hall belongs on anybody's list of Fitch High School Lore and Legend, a two-time state champion and all-state linebacker who made the Butkus Award Watch List as a linebacker at Purdue and later signed with the Minnesota Vikings.

Yet among all he's experienced, he knows the one guy who established the foundation.

"My dad didn't just help me be the best athlete I could be, but the best man I could be," George the son said. "He's the best role model as a dad. He was always there. That's important now with what's going on in the world. I'm a husband and a father now. He always treated everybody with respect. You can see it with the way he's treated in the community now. Everybody likes him."

George Sr., has worked in the court system in excess of 20 years. He also coached his sons, Mike, George and Mark – all Fitch standouts – in Groton youth football.

"It was way more than Xs and Os when my dad was coaching," George said. "We knew what was expected of us. We were asked to take things seriously, even as 10-year-olds. And when we didn't, my dad let us know.

"He'd make us run. Or worse, he'd make us to wall-sits against a fence for like a half-hour. I still remember that."