Christy

More than 20 years after their athletic endeavors took off in high school, Jeff Christy and Heather Quinn Hair, who were 1987 graduates of Freeport High School, were recently inducted into the Armstrong County Sports Hall of Fame in a ceremony at Laube Hall along with eight other honorees.

Christy was inducted for his success in football, from the Yellowjackets to the University of Pittsburgh to the NFL, including a Super Bowl title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the 2002 season.

Hair entered the Hall with an impressive string of track and field honors at Freeport and Shippensburg University.

Five years earlier, Jeff's brother, Greg, and Hair's sister, Cheri, were also inducted in the same Hall class.

The two had their own successes, but were joined together as seniors as members of the track team.

"It was fun at the state meets," said Hair, who now lives in Douglasville, outside Reading. "The coaches let us have a good time even though we were there to compete.

"Jeff and I had a ball our senior year," she added.

Christy was a football star and had a scholarship waiting for him at Pitt. Track and field seemed like a good thing to do.

"My senior year I went out for track," said Christy. "The fact I was out for one year and placed third at states (in the Class AA shot put and was also the WPIAL champion), I'm kind of proud of that. I set out with a goal and that was very satisfying.

"Heather was a big part of me going out for track. After talking with her, she said I had nothing to lose," Christy added.

It was in football that Christy, who played running back, linebacker, kicker and punter, made his biggest splash. He set nine Freeport records, including scoring an amazing state-high 208 points as a junior.

"It seems like I was a different person since I made it in the NFL as a (offensive) lineman," said Christy, who finished with 337 career points and 340 tackles in his career, also records.

At Pitt, Christy lettered all four years and played at five different positions.

"What stood out was having the opportunity to play when Jerry Olsavsky got hurt," said Christy. "That was very exciting for me. After my redshirt junior year, I moved to the offensive line."

Christy went to right guard, then to left tackle after another player was bumped off for steroid use.

In the spring of 1992, Christy was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the fourth round and was signed by the Minnesota Vikings a year later.In 1994, the center became a full-time starter for the rest of his 11-year career. He also made three consecutive Pro Bowls from 1998-2000. He played his last three seasons with Tampa Bay.He was released in February 2003 and decided to call it a career, although he still had interest from other teams.I don't think anything could have gotten better," said Christy. "I set out to do what I wanted to do."Now, Christy spends time with his wife Kristen and children, Nicolette, Mac and Kennedy, while dabbling in real estate.As for Hair, she was a member of the Yellowjackets' 1985 WPIAL championship track team and a member of the WPIAL champion and PIAA runner-up 1,600-meter relay team.Hair won WPIAL medals in six different events."Cheri was on that (1985) 4x4 relay team and the four of us were real close," said Hair.Hair chose to go to Shippensburg University to join Cheri "so I could run with her for two more years," said Hair.Hair was a member of the winning 1,600 relay team at the PSACChampionships all four years, the only Shipp athlete to do so, and also medaled all four years in the open 400. She finished with a total of 14 PSAC championship meet medals.After graduating summa cum laude in biology in 1991, Hair moved on to Hahnemann University and graduated magna cum laude with a master's in physical therapy.Hair is now involved in showing horses. "That's my only competition now," said Hair. "Eleven years ago, my husband (Jeff) said, 'Hey, you want a new hobby?'"Their children Quinn (8) and Madelyn (6) also keep Hair busy."Both are involved in athletics," said Hair. "At this point, it's more developing character in sports."

Hair