Tom Maddux

The Aggie tradition runs deep when you mention Tommy Maddux. Howard “Tommy” Maddux played for the 1927 Albertville Aggies (8-1). Years later in 1954, his son James Howard “Tom” Maddux Jr. played on one of the best Aggie teams in history (9-1). The Aggie record of nine wins in a regular season has stood for the last 50 years and is the best since Hoyt Levie’s 1929 team went 11-1. Marshall County Hall of Fame member Ralph Reed and Frank Alford were co-head coaches of this outstanding squad. “Tom” Maddux Jr. played football, basketball and baseball for the Albertville Aggies. His 1955 Aggie football honors were captain, All-County and All-State.

His high school basketball skills were enough to earn Maddux a scholarship offer from Birmingham-Southern. His life without football and basketball started with enrollment as a freshman at Alabama. Maddux was missing football and his former Aggie teammate, Jimmy Bartlett, a member of the Chattanooga team, encouraged him to try out with the Moccasins. He quickly earned a scholarship, but it would be Jacksonville coaches Don Salls and “Dirty” Wedgeworth that benefited from his outstanding offensive-defensive play. Maddux was a three-year starter and letterman at JSU in 1959, 1960 and 1961. The spring of 1959, Maddux won the Most Valuable Lineman award. For the next three years the lineman awards belonged to him. Ken Monk, Collegian sports editor, wrote that “Tom Maddux was one of the toughest linemen that the Gamecock team has produced in a number of years. He is a 210-pound hard-nosed center who is captain of the 1961 Jaxmen. One of his greatest games was against Carson Newman in 1960. In that spectacular game, he alone made 19 tremendous tackles and was on numerous others.”

Tom Maddux, a two-way starter, was the “Most Valuable Player” on the team in 1960. He led the team in tackles and interceptions. Maddux was twice chosen as a unanimous choice for the All-Alabama Collegiate Conference Team. Other honors following the 1961 season included All-Birmingham News and Most Valuable Conference Lineman. According to Coach Don Salls, Maddux did not make a bad snap from center in two years. What a way to end his playing career, leading the team in tackles with 100-plus tackles. Of those, 61 tackles were in the last three games, in which he played both offense and defense.

Maddux spent one-and-a-half years as an assistant football coach to Jim Glover at Etowah. He then headed home to Albertville as the first full-time city recreation director. A year later, Maddux was employed by Ralston-Purina, with the remainder of his career in management related to the poultry business.