General | 11/10/2022 9:00:00 AM

Birmingham, Ala. - The Mississippi Valley State University athletics program has added two new inductees to the SWAC Hall of Fame as former football player Robert "Hitman" Gaddis and public address announcer Jerome Blake have been enshrined as part of the 2022 class.

Gaddis, a wide receiver from 1970 to 1973, was a five-year CFL veteran and Grey Cup champion with the Montreal Alouettes and was one of 13 Delta Devils football players taken in the NFL draft in the 1970s when they Steelers snagged him in the 13th round in 1975. The 1974 First Team All-American and Pittsburg Courier National Receiver of the Year led the NAIA in yards per catch twice as well as all four years in the conference in that category, earning himself a trio of All-SWAC selections and a NAIA Freshman of the Year award (1970).

Blake, otherwise known as the "Voice of the Delta Devils", has spent the past 30-plus seasons behind the microphone for Mississippi Valley athletics, serving as the master of ceremony during the MVSU Hall of Fame and athletics banquets, and the SWAC Basketball Tournament while also serving as the announcer for Valley State's football, basketball, softball, baseball, and volleyball contests. He is still active and going strong as of this article, returning to the PA stand next on Friday, November 18 for men's basketball's home opener versus North Alabama at 7 p.m. inside the R.W. Harrison HPER Complex.

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