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Columbus native and former Lion football standout Johnny Fisher became EMCC’s 2012 inductee into the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame during Tuesday’s induction ceremonies on Hinds Community College’s Rankin campus.
Born and raised in Columbus, Fisher enjoyed a record-setting athletic career at R.E. Hunt High School. A first-team all-conference performer in both football and track, Fisher scored 25 touchdowns and was named MVP of the Elks Bowl during his senior season. Following his outstanding high school athletic career, he accepted a football scholarship to attend Jackson State University.
After spending the 1968 football season at Jackson State, Fisher transferred to East Mississippi Junior College for the 1969-70 academic year. As head coach A.J. Kilpatrick’s starting tailback, Fisher helped lead the 1969 EMJC Lions to a 9-1 record and runner-up finish among Mississippi’s junior college football ranks. For his sophomore year efforts, Fisher garnered National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) All-America honors and was named to the Mississippi Junior College Association’s All-State/North Division squad.
Following his banner year at EMJC, Fisher was awarded a football scholarship to the University of Maryland. While at Maryland, Fisher received his bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in criminal justice in 1973. He went on to earn his master’s degree in criminal justice in 1977 from Coppin State University in Baltimore, Md.
Upon graduating from college, Fisher began a distinguished career as a law enforcement officer in Washington, D.C. He then joined the Baltimore City Police Department, where he received commendations and awards from the Baltimore City Mayor, the Governor of Maryland and the Maryland State Senate. Subsequently, Fisher joined the United States Drug Enforcement Agency as a special agent for the Baltimore Division.
Fisher’s work with the DEA carried him all over the country, including undercover work in the Midwest. While serving in Philadelphia, Pa., Fisher was credited with dismantling a Jamaican drug gang that had terrorized the area for years. As a result of this work, the U.S. Attorney, along with other federal, state and local law enforcement officials, established the Violent Traffickers Project for Pennsylvania.
The recipient of Maryland gubernatorial and legislative awards, Fisher most notably received the DEA’s Administrator’s Award for initiating an Anti-Drug Prevention Program as well as for his outstanding contributions to the Drug Interdiction Program at the St. Louis (Mo.) Metropolitan Airport. Prior to retiring from his law enforcement career in 2005, Fisher was in charge of programs centering on asset forfeiture, financial investigation and organized crime drug enforcement task force.
A 2004 inductee of the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame, Fisher moved home to Columbus following his retirement from law enforcement. He presently serves as a criminal justice instructor at East Mississippi Community College’s Golden Triangle branch in Mayhew. He is married to the former Currie Jean Brewer of Columbus, and they have one son and one daughter and are proud grandparents to one granddaughter.
This year marks the sixth class of the Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame. Fisher joins previously elected EMCC inductees Joe Rowell (2011), Tom Scarborough (2010), Elbert “Lum” Wright (2009), Ken Waddell Sr. (2008), Don Edwards (2008), Clyde “Baby Doll” Pierce (2007), Bill Buckner (2007), and Bob “Bull” Sullivan (2007).
Other newly elected members honored during Tuesday’s Mississippi Community College Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremonies included: Earnest Killum (Coahoma CC); Gwyn Young (Copiah-Lincoln CC); Richard Harris (East Central CC); Rene’ Warren (Hinds CC); Donald Phillips (Holmes CC); Mike Eaton (Itawamba CC); Verl Dykes Sr. (Jones County JC); Wanda McPhail (Meridian CC); James “Wooky” Gray (deceased, Mississippi Delta CC); Earl King Jr. (Mississippi Gulf Coast CC); Ricky Ford (Northeast Mississippi CC); Mike Rowan (Northwest Mississippi CC); Mack Cochran (Pearl River CC); and Ernest Foy (Southwest Mississippi CC).