NATCHEZ — The Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame just got a little bit more Natchez flavor when the class of 2009 was announced Tuesday afternoon.

That’s because former North Natchez standout Hugh Green, who went on to fame at the University of Pittsburgh and the NFL, was announced as one of the six inductees into next year’s class.

Green is joined by former Mississippi State standout and 1985 Super Bowl champion Tyrone Keys, former NFL coach Jim Carmody, former Southern Miss football coach Jeff Bower, John Stroud, the all-time scoring leader in Ole Miss men’s basketball history, and Robert Morgan, who retired after 38 years in 2006 as the longest serving director of a PGA tournament in America.

Following a standout high school career at North Natchez, Green went to star as a defensive end at the University of Pittsburgh, where he finished second in the Heisman Trophy voting in 1980, the highest ever finish for a purely defensive player.

Green then enjoyed a successful 10-year NFL career for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Miami Dolphins, being named to the Pro Bowl in 1982 and 1983.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1996.

Green will be the first person born in Natchez to be inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame.

“We’re real proud of him,” president of the Miss-Lou chapter of the National Football Foundation Terry Estes said. “This is a great honor for Hugh as an athlete and for Natchez. It’s good he’s being recognized for what he meant to amateur and pro sports and to Mississippi.”

Former Mississippi State and Chicago Bears standout Joe Fortunato, who has lived in Natchez since following his college days and was inducted in the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1978, said Green is a deserving choice.

“Hugh Green deserves to be in there,” Fortunato said. “He was a great player in the NFL. I’m glad to hear it.”

Fortunato said being inducted into the hall of fame was a great honor for him and for Natchez as well.

“It was really an honor for me at that time,” he said. “They (Natchez) were all proud of me. It made me feel awfully good. It’s good for Natchez to get some more representation (in the hall of fame.)

Green could not be reached for comment.