About Inductee

An Army brat who was born in Hawaii, Gus Hergert III attended Butler High School in Huntsville from 1972-75, played football, ran middle distance track and also played on the citys first rugby team at UAH. Enrolling at the University of North Alabama, he had hoped to play college golf or football, but a budding career in television intervened. Hired for $47.56 a week to anchor 10 sportscasts at the NBC affiliate in Florence, WOWL-TV, he went full-time as Sports Director during his junior year in college and never looked back. While working at WOWL, he put together dozens of TV specials, including extensive coverage of the death of the Paul Bear Bryant in early 1983. That event led a lasting friendship between Hergert and Alabamas new coach, Ray Perkins. Hergert was hired by the Fox affiliate in Birmingham/Tuscaloosa as Sports Director in 1984. Within six weeks he was producing the Alabama Basketball Show with Wimp Sanderson. Soon afterward, he took over the Ray Perkins Show as host and executive producer. Over the next three years, he produced and directed all of Alabamas post-season sports highlight films. It was the most exciting time of my life, Hergert said. When Perkins returned to the NFL in 1987 as head coach of Tampa Bay, Hergert left too. He landed the biggest job of his career, News Director and Anchor in New York City for SportsChannel New York and Sportschannel America, where he was part of the televised coverage of the Yankees, Mets, Islanders, Devils and Nets. He also covered a variety of other major sporting events live and on-location, including heavyweight title boxing in Atlantic City, spring training in Florida, and the Belmont Stakes. Returning home to Huntsville, Hergert worked for a decade at WAAY, Channel 31. With the support of owner M. D. Smith, 31 Sports Productions produced more than 250 programs, many of them live and/or on location. As Sports Director and Executive Producer, Hergert was the creator of Friday Night Football, the only 30-minute high school football show airing as a stand-alone program at the 10:30 p.m. time slot. Within two years, it expanded to a full hour. Sometimes the show ran up to 90 minutes, preempting Nightline. In 1998, Hergerts Friday Night Football was awarded the first Emmy and the only sports Emmy, to date in the history of north Alabama television. It was the benchmark of everything we did at WAAY, Hergert said. But it wasnt the only thing. During UNAs run of three straight national Division II football championships, WAAY televised the Lions 11 times, including the 1995 title game with ESPN. Hergert also did radio play-by-play for Alabama A&M football and basketball, UAH basketball and hockey, pro basketball for the Huntsville Lasers and pro hockey for the Huntsville Channel Cats all while hosting SEC Weekly, a 39-week-a-year TV program for the SEC, airing nationwide. He and his crew also televised Winston Cup qualifying from Talladega, a first for any TV, local or network, at any NASCAR track, and won the AP award for the Best Sports Program in Alabama. WAAY was also nominated for an Emmy for its live three-hour pregame coverage of the 1992 Iron Bowl. Hergert was honored as the top sportscaster five times. The night he won the Emmy Award in Nashville in 1998 was his last night in TV. He had back surgery three weeks later and was not able to return to the air after that due to recurring health issues. Hergert and Judi, his wife of 31 years, live in Huntsville. They have two sons: Gus IV, 27, a local musician/composer; and Ben, 19, who is studying for medical school.