Five Inducted to Football Hall of Fame

Michael Ford

More stories from Michael Ford

Former+FCC+football+players+%28from+left+to+right%29%29+Tracey+Hunt%2C+Sean+Soares%2C+Matt+Giordano%2C+and+Earl+Charles+stand+with+%28Middle%29+Head+Coach+Tony+Caviglia+as+they+are+honored+at+the+26th+annual+Wall+of+Fame.+

Photo by: Andrea Briseno

Former FCC football players (from left to right)) Tracey Hunt, Sean Soares, Matt Giordano, and Earl Charles stand with (Middle) Head Coach Tony Caviglia as they are honored at the 26th annual Wall of Fame.

Fresno City College’s football program hosted its 26th annual Wall of Fame Dinner on Aug. 30 at Pardini’s on West Shaw Avenue in Fresno. The dinner is a celebration of those being inducted into the Wall of Fame at Ratcliffe Stadium.

Defensive back Matt Giordano, linebackers Tracey Hunt and Carlos Cox, running back Earl Charles, and running back and kick returner Sean Soares were inducted in this class.

Each player was called up to the podium and given the opportunity to speak and answer some questions from the host.

Earl Charles, the first to speak, expressed much gratitude to all those who supported the team, while also playfully poking a little bit of fun at his head coach, Tony Caviglia.

“Coach C. took a chance on a kid from New York City, Charles said. “He never knew that guys from New York could play football.”

Matt Giordano, the next inductee to speak, played for the Rams from 2001-2002. He shared a brief story of how he first came to FCC and his experience there.

“I remember meeting coach C. and he told me to come home to Fresno City,” Giordano said.

Giordano is from Fresno and attended Buchanan High. He reminisced about being able to become a part of a team of kids from all areas of the state.

“It was an awesome experience. All those teams and all those regions that we all came from, we formed a team, and that’s the beauty of City College,” he said. “We all did not like each other in high school and were forced to come together and win, under coach C(Caviglia).”

Tracey Hunt and Carlos Cox played linebacker together in the middle of the defense in ’97 and in ’99. Cox was unable to attend the event due to a family emergency back in Alabama where he is originally from.

Hunt shared some of his thoughts about his relationship with Cox both on and off of the field.

“We hung around each other; we had a good relationship and I think that is what made us deeper on the field and we understood each other,” Hunt said. “I had his back, and he had my back.”

Former President Tony Cantu. Cantu who died unexpectedly on last Easter was posthumously inducted into the Wall of Fame class.

The hosts took time to acknowledge the terrible tragedy of star athlete Deondre Howard’s death. Howard was killed in a shooting outside of his home in northwest Fresno on Aug. 30.