Alex M. Rivera Athletics Hall of Fame
Herman W. Mathews came to North Carolina College in 1966 from H.W. Black High School in Tampa, Florida, where in addition to quarterbacking the 7-1 championship team of his senior year he had been a member of the marching and concert bands, president of the junior class, and president of the senior class.
If he had been involvedin campus politics at North Carolina College, which became North Carolina Central University in his senior year, Mr. Mathews would have been a shoo-in. He was an outstanding quarterback from his freshman year on, under coaches James Stevens and George Quiett. He was the team’s MVP as a freshman, played in every game during the four years, and started in 30 of 36 games. As quarterback, with a favored target of Julian Martin, Mathews led the team in 1969 to its first televised post-season bowl game, the Boardwalk Bowl in Atlantic City. He won All-CIAA and All-NAIA District 26 honors that year as the team achieved a 7-1-1 regular season record. During those four years Mathews set almost every team record available to a quarterback, and held on to the records for 15 years until the advent of Gerald Fraylon in 1984.
Mathews held a contract with the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League in 1970 and 1971. In 1970 as a member of the Argonauts affiliate club, the Bramelea Satellites of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, Mathews contributed to a 12-1-1 record and started at quarterback in 10 games. He was also the team’s player representative. Since 1971, he was involved in marketing, starting with Blue Cross-Blue Shield of North Carolina and moving into television advertising as an account executive at WTVD, the ABC station in Durham.
(bio from program at the time of induction)
