Euclid City Schools

The Euclid Panthers Football Teams have had some spectacular running backs through the years. Only two of them, however, have ever been honored as Ohio's best football player via an award known as Mr. Ohio Football. The first was Sports Hall of Famer Robert Smith who won the award twice. The second was Tony Fisher who in his first year of eligibility is now also being inducted into the Sports Hall of Fame. Euclid holds the distinction of being the only school in Ohio to have two winners of the Mr. Ohio Football Award and is also the only Ohio school to have had one player win the award twice.

An amazing all-around athlete, Tony won 12 varsity letters in high school: four each in football, basketball, and track. His success in each sport was outstanding, but in football he played at a higher level than everyone else. His career gridiron exploits were so many that in 2007 the News-Herald chose to honor him by naming its annual football player of the year award as the Tony Fisher Award.

A three-year starter and team captain his senior year for Hall of Fame Coach Tom Banc, Tony ran up great records, a number of which are still standing. For example, his 2,120 rushing yards and 40 touchdowns during his senior season broke Robert Smith's single-season records. His 224 points that season are still standing as an area record. New-Herald Sports Editor Mark Podolski in an August 23, 2007, article quoted a N-H staff writer as saying of Tony's 224 points that it might be "the 56-game hitting streak of area football. Pretty much unbreakable."

As a football Panther, Tony had many honors, including Player of the Year for the Plain Dealer, News-Herald, Sun Journal, Northeast Ohio, and Ohio Gatorade Teams. He was an All-Ohio Selection his last two seasons and Mr. Ohio Football in his last season.

In his other two varsity sports, Tony as a senior captained the basketball team for Hall of Fame Coach Doc Daugherty, was the News-Herald's Player of the Year, and was selected as the team's Most Valuable Player. In track for Hall of Fame Coach Bob Ramlow and Coach Frank Soltesz, he captained the team in his junior and senior years, won All-League honors, and was the team's MVP. He qualified for the State Meet in the long jump and 300-meter hurdles.

Highly recruited, Tony was greatly sought by Notre Dame, and in the fall of 1998 he made his decision and went off to South Band to play football for the Fighting Irish. A 6'1", 227-pound tailback, he had a fine college career, rushing for 1,849 yards, accumulating 2,247 total yards, and scoring 20 TD's. He graduated in 2002 with a bachelor's degree in economics and computer applications.

After college, he spent four years with the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League as a running back, followed by a year with the St. Louis Rams. An injured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has slowed Tony, but he still entertains the possibility of a return to the NFL if a call comes.

Coach Banc still holds Tony in high esteem, telling the News-Herald that "he is a very good kid and very good athlete. Just a solid kid. He has very good moral fiber."

Tony still lives in Euclid in the off-season and conditions himself at the Euclid Sports Plant workout facility and in local basketball leagues where he can surprise younger players with his still considerable court talents. Of his off-season basketball playing he told the News-Herald in a 2006 article that "I can still play...sometimes I don't realize I'm a couple years older than those guys. They can run, but they might not realize I'm a little wiser, a litter stronger than they are, so I have to slow the game down and use an old-man game on them." Age will eventually catch up to Tony, but there can be no doubt that on a playing field or on a court, in his heart he knows he can still play.

Tony currently is involved in investing in financial areas and in real estate. He enjoys spending time with his family and indulging his passion for adding to his still growing collection of shoes, which now totals 300!

Inducted on October 2, 2008