San Jose Sports Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2021 Inductees During Premiere of “Valley of Champions”

San Jose, CA (November 24, 2020) – The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2021 Inductees during the television broadcast of Valley of Champions, a half-hour show about the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame that premiered tonight on the regional sports channel NBC Sports Bay Area.

Comprising the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2021 are:

• James Jones (Football), three-sport athlete at Gunderson High School and standout WR at San Jose State University who became a top receiver in the NFL and won Super Bowl XLV as a member of the Green Bay Packers;
• Summer Sanders (Swimming), multi-titled NCAA champion swimmer at Stanford University whose long list of achievements also includes a four-medal performance (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze) at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympic Games;
• George Seifert (Football), San Francisco native whose coaching career includes two stints at Stanford University and 17 years with the San Francisco 49ers; Seifert won five Super Bowl rings during his tenure with the Niners, including two as the Head Coach (SB XXIV and SB XXIX);
• Mark Purdy (Sportswriting), award-winning sports columnist at the San Jose Mercury News for 33 years whose keen opinions and incisive prose not only became must-reads for sports fans everywhere but also helped to establish the South Bay as an important sports destination.

(Please see Pages 3-5 of this release for detailed bios of the Class of 2021 SJSHOF Inductees.)

In addition to tonight’s premiere, NBC Sports Bay Area will re-air Valley of Champions on Wednesday, Nov. 25, at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. (PT) and on Thursday, Nov. 26, at 2:30 p.m. (PT).

About the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame (est. 1995)

Now in its 26^th year, the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame serves as both a historical record of sports achievement in the South Bay and an enduring source of civic pride. To date, the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame has inducted 114 individuals who developed their skills, played, or coached in San Jose or Santa Clara County and/or contributed in an extraordinary way to the greater San Jose community in a sports-related program or project.

The San Jose Sports Hall of Fame is overseen by a Board of Directors comprised of civic, sports, media and business leaders who volunteer their time to research, nominate and name the incoming class of inductees as well as to organize an annual Induction Ceremony and Dinner that is usually held in November at SAP Center of San Jose. Due to the current COVID-19 restrictions for social gatherings and events, the Board of Directors elected to forgo the festivities in 2020 and instead select the Class of 2021 Inductees as well as to produce Valley of Champions. The date for the 2021 SJSHOF Induction Ceremony and Dinner will be announced after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.

About Valley of Champions

Hosted by Randy Hahn, local broadcaster and Voice of the San Jose Sharks, Valley of Champions delves into the historical and cultural relevance of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame while also spotlighting some of the achievements and contributions of the remarkable individuals who are enshrined in the Hall. Joining Hahn to help tell the story of the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame are Inductees Roger Maltbie (Class of 2012), Jeff Garcia (Class of 2015), Lucy Wedemeyer (inaugural Class of 1995), and Kristi Yamaguchi (Class of 2011).

Valley of Champions is segmented and organized around four archetypes – Innovators, Pioneers, Growers and Ambassadors – that dovetail with the industries and personality traits for which the South Bay has become renowned. The previously mentioned inductees – Maltbie, Garcia, Wedemeyer and Yamaguchi – each introduce one of the featured archetypes. Roger Maltbie, for example, introduces the segment on Innovators, which details the achievements of Bill Walsh, Peter Ueberroth, Seana Hogan and George Gund.

Heritage Bank of Commerce is the presenting sponsor of Valley of Champions. Additional financial support to produce the show was provided by The Olander Company, March Development Company, Johanson & Yau, Ponderosa Homes, the Steve Hallgrimson Foundation, and Bill & Connie Ring.

The San Jose Sports Authority, the sports marketing arm for the City of San Jose, oversaw the project; local sportswriters Mark Purdy and Dan Brown co-wrote the script; Justin Allegri as the voice, and Atomic Productions, Inc., produced the program. (Of note, Mark Purdy did not know he had been named to the SJSHOF Class of 2021 when he began working on the script for Valley of Champions; his former Mercury News colleague Dan Brown wrote the show’s closing segment announcing next year’s inductees.)

About the San Jose Sports Authority (www.sjsa.org)

The San Jose Sports Authority is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to increase the City of San Jose’s economic development, visibility, and civic pride through sports. Serving as the City’s sports commission since its inception in 1991, the Sports Authority has provided leadership and support to attract or host hundreds of sporting events in San Jose and the South Bay. The Sports Authority also supports and
operates community, youth, and amateur sports programs, including the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame and
REACH Youth Scholarship Program.

Links for Valley of Champions & the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame
• Valley of Champions Trailer – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rk3p0EAHmeM
• SJSHOF Board of Directors – https://sjsa.org/hof/board/
• Complete List of SJSHOF Inductees (1995 – 2019) – https://sjsa.org/hof/inductees/

SJSHOF on Social Media
• Facebook – @SanJoseSportsHallofFame
• Twitter – @SJSHOF
• Instagram – @sanjosesports (page is for both SJSA & SJSHOF)

SJSA on Social Media
• Facebook – @sjsauthority
• Twitter – @sjsauthority
• Instagram – @sanjosesports (page is for both SJSA & SJSHOF)
• LinkedIn – San Jose Sports Authority
• YouTube – San Jose Sports Authority

SJSHOF Class of 2021 / Detailed Bios

James Jones

Born and raised in San Jose, James Jones was a three-sport star at Gunderson High School, lettering in football, basketball, and track. As a senior, the multi-talented Jones was named the MVP of the football team (playing QB) and recorded a personal best 6’8” in the high jump. Jones decided to stay local for college and took his talents to San Jose State. A member on the Spartans’ practice squad as a freshman, Jones found his groove by his senior year and was named second-team All-Western Athletic Conference and the team’s MVP. He led the Spartans that year with 70 receptions for 893 total yards (12.8 avg.) and ten touchdowns. In addition to his success on the offensive side of the ball, Jones was a key player on special teams, returning 42 punts for 307 yards (7.3 avg) over the course of his college career. Drafted in the third round by the Green Bay Packers in 2007, Jones spent ten seasons in the NFL.  His 2010 season counts as one of his most productive – and rewarding. After finishing the regular season with 50 receptions for 679 yards and 5 touchdowns, Jones had TD receptions in both the Wild Card and Division rounds of the playoffs, which helped the Packers reach Super Bowl XLV. Jones caught five passes for 50 yards in the championship game, which the Packers won, 31-25 over the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Another highlight includes the 2012 season, when Jones started all 16 regular season games for the first time in his career and ended the year with a career-high 64 receptions for 784 receiving yards and a league-best 14 touchdowns.

Summer Sanders

Born and raised in Roseville, CA, Sanders caught the attention of the international swimming world when she nearly made the 1988 U.S. Olympic Team as a 15-year-old. Four years later, Sanders was among her sport’s global elite, as her four medals at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona made her the most decorated swimmer of the Games. (Her exact medal haul in Spain in 1992: gold in the 200m fly, gold in the 4×100 medley relay/prelim heat, silver in the 200m IM, and bronze in the 400m IM.)  Stateside, Sanders was also dominating collegiate swimming. During her two years at Stanford University, Sanders won 11 NCAA championships (6 individual events, 4 relays and 1 team title – listed below) and was named NCAA Swimmer of the Year in both 1991 and 1992. A 12-time All-American, Sanders received the 1992 Honda Sports Award for swimming & diving as the country’s most outstanding college female swimmer of the year. Additional achievements include eight U.S. National Championship titles and three medals at the 1991 World Championships.

Here are Sanders’ 11 NCAA national championship titles (individual events, relay, and team):

Individual Events (6) NCAA Nat’l Championships	Relay Events (4) NCAA Nat’l Championships	Team Title (1) NCAA Nat’l Championship
–          200 fly (1991, 1992) –          200 IM (1991, 1992) –          400 IM (1991, 1992)	–          400 free relay (1992) –          200 medley relay (1992) –          400 medley relay (1991, 1992)	– Stanford University Women’s Swimming Team (1992)

 

George Seifert

Born and raised in San Francisco, George Seifert attended San Francisco Polytechnic High School, located across the street from Kezar Stadium, then home to the San Francisco 49ers… the team with whom he would later win five Super Bowl rings. Following high school graduation, Seifert attended the Univ. of Utah, where he played guard and linebacker and worked as a grad assistant. Seifert got first crack at head coaching at age 25, when he took over the then-dormant football program at Westminster College in Salt Lake City for a year. In 1966, Seifert moved up to DI football, first working as an assistant at the Universities of Iowa and Oregon before returning to the Bay Area in 1972 to be Stanford’s assistant coach for DBs. In 1977, after a brief head coaching run at Cornell, Seifert came back to Stanford, where he then met Bill Walsh. When Walsh was hired to be the head coach of the SF 49ers in 1979, he made sure Seifert – and his defensive acumen — came with him. By 1983, Seifert was promoted to Defensive Coordinator. For the next six years, Seifert’s stingy defenses were among the best in the league, finishing in the top ten for fewest points allowed as well as first and third in fewest yards allowed (1987 and 1988, respectively). During this stretch as a Niners’ assistant coach and defensive coordinator, Seifert won three Super Bowl titles (XVI, XSIX, XXIII). Seifert was named the team’s head coach in 1989, and he promptly led them to another Super Bowl victory (XXIV), becoming only the second rookie coach win the Super Bowl.  Seifert added another Super Bowl ring to his collection in 1995 (after the 1994 regular season) with a blow-out win over the San Diego Chargers, 49-26.  Today, Seifert’s record of 98 regular season wins remains the most of any 49ers head coach in franchise history.

Mark Purdy

Mark Purdy grew up in Celina, Ohio, a small town outside Dayton, in a newspaper-reading household. In high school, he played football and basketball and wrote for the school paper. After being advised he was a better writer than athlete, Purdy hung up his cleats and sneakers to focus on the written word. He earned his degree in journalism at Northwestern before returning home in 1974 to cover sports for the Dayton Journal Herald. In 1976, after a brief stint with the Los Angeles Times reporting on UCLA football and basketball, Purdy returned to Ohio to write for the Cincinnati Enquirer. Over the next eight years, Purdy’s work gained both attention and accolades, as he was twice named Ohio Sportswriter of the Year and received three First Place writing prizes from the Ohio Associated Press Sports Writers Association. In 1984, Purdy uprooted once again, this time to take on the dual roles of sports editor and columnist at the San Jose Mercury News. Over the next 33 years, Purdy’s voice became synonymous with sports in San Jose – and beyond. During his tenure at “The Merc,” Purdy covered 14 Olympic Games, nearly three dozen Super Bowls, and countless games of either local significance or global import (or both), such as the 1989 “Earthquake World Series,” the 1991 debut of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks, and the 1999 Women’s World Cup. Purdy has been named to the list of Top 10 Sports Columnists by the Associated Press Sports Editors numerous times and was also cited by the Wall Street Journal for writing one of the country’s ten best sports columns.

In 1995, when city leaders established the San Jose Sports Hall of Fame, they turned to Mark Purdy for both his perspective and prose. Over the next 25 years, Purdy has been lending his voice – written and narrated – to the Inductee video vignettes that have become a staple (as well as one of the more anticipated and enjoyed elements) of the annual SJSHOF Induction Ceremony & Dinner.