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Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame Set
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With her strong right arm, productive bat and steady glove, she contributed mightily to Fresno State's rise to prominence and helped build the fan base that led to the construction of the nation's best softball stadium. Named team MVP and San Joaquin Valley media female athlete of the year four straight seasons (1980-1983) while dividing time between the pitcher's mound and third base. Earned All-America honors in '82, when the Bulldogs finished second to UCLA at the College Softball World Series. The Tulare Western High School graduate pitched six no-hitters, including two perfect games, while compiling a collegiate career record of 77-36 and 0.61 earned-run average. In the era before the introduction of the "juiced" softball, hit 13 home runs and averaged .286 over four seasons. Virtually wrote the record book for the Bulldogs upon graduation and at the time of her Hall of Fame induction, still ranked among the top 10 in every major pitching category. Her uniform (No. 19) was retired in 1987. Later compete professionally on women's golf mini-tours and also was a futurity show horse rider.
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A true student-athlete who rose from humble beginnings in Auberry to become an all-conference quarterback at Stanford, a standout performer in the Canadian Football League and one of the best punters in National Football League history. Earned the attention of college scouts at Clovis High, where he starred in football and basketball. Capped his collegiate career by starting for the West all-stars in the 1966 Shrine Game. Despite being drafted in the fifth round by the New York Giants, signed with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, for whom he played receiver, defensive back, quarterback and punter. Signed with the Bengals in '70 and led the NFL in punting his first two seasons, averaging 46.2 and 44.8 yards to earn All-Pro recognition. He retired from the NFL with a career average of 43.7 yards, No. 7 on the all-time list. The longest kick of his career was 75 yards with the Alouettes, and he never had a punt blocked with the Bengals. At the time of his Hall of Fame induction, had worked 28 years for the U.S. Department of Commerce, specializing in the management of affirmative-action programs.
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Born and reared in Sanger, Calif., this tall, slender youngster learned to throw a football with accuracy at an early age. He captained the Sanger High School football, basketball and baseball teams in his senior year (1953-54). Flores was voted Sanger Athlete of the Year and then enrolled at Fresno City College. He quarterbacked the Rams under coach Hans Wiedenhoefer in 1954 and 1955, gaining honorable mention All-American honors in his final year. Flores enrolled at College of the Pacific (now University of the Pacific) in Stockton and was the sixth ranked passer in the nation in 1956 and was fourth in total offense. In 1957 he was the seventh ranked passer, received honorable mention All-American and was named to the West team in the annual Shrine East-West game in San Francisco. During his two years at COP he broke most of the records set by the legendary Eddie LeBaron. He was an academic collegiate All-American. In 1958 he signed professionally with the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. A shoulder injury caused him to sit out the 1959 season, but in 1960 he signed with the Oakland Raiders in the newly formed American Football League. He rehabilitated his shoulder through a series of exercises and led the AFL in pass completion percentage and fewest interceptions. In 1961 he was the second leading passer in the AFL and he was the Raiders quarterback until he was released in 1966. His Raider career totals were 810 completions for 11,635 yards and 92 touchdowns. He played two more seasons each for the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs, quarterbacking the 1969 Super Bowl champion Chiefs. He was named head coach of the Oakland Raiders in 1979. In 1980 he took the Raiders to the Super Bowl championship, was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1982 and took the now Los Angeles Raiders to the Super Bowl title in 1983. He received the NFL Life Achievement award in 1988 and numerous accolades for his humanitarian work.
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Holder of the Olympic decathlon championship, symbolic of rating as the world's greatest athlete, Rafer Johnson has put the small Fresno County community of Kingsburg on the athletic map in a big way. In addition to his Olympic crown, Rafer won AAU decathlon titles in 1956, 1958, and 1960, the Pan-American Games championship in 1955, and second place in the 1956 Olympics. He first broke the world record in Kingsburg and subsequently raised it in 1958 and 1960. Johnson was born in Hillsboro, Texas, August 18, 1935, but has lived most of his life in Kingsburg. He was an all-around athlete at Kingsburg High School, lettering in football, basketball, and baseball as well as track and making all-league teams in each sport. At UCLA, he concentrated almost exclusively on track, although he found time to play one season of basketball - and was a regular. A leader off the athletic field as well as on it, he also served one year as UCLA's student body president.