Photo: Neill Faucett addresses attendees at the annual Blue Devil Banquet on June 7 at the Attalla Community Center. (Mike Goodson/Messenger)
By Mike Goodson/Sports Correspondent
Local Attalla product Neill B. Faucett always seemed to have a way of succeeding in life.
Faucett was honored at the annual Etowah Blue Devil Banquet on June 7 at the Attalla Community Center.
City of Attalla Mayor Larry Means presented Faucett with a proclamation recognizing June 7 as Neill Faucett Day. Faucett spoke of his success on the basketball court and business world and his walk with the Lord.
The banquet was a “Who’s Who” of local civic leaders, former coaches and well-known Attalla citizens.
A 1963 graduate of Etowah County High School, Faucett excelled in basketball for head coach Don Wilson.
Upon graduation, Faucett attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery and Auburn University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude and earned a Rhodes Scholarship. He worked for an area newspaper for a time.
Faucett discussed his relationship with legendary college football coaches Bobby Dodd at Georgia Tech and Paul “Bear” Bryant at the University of Alabama.
When Dodd passed away, Faucett was the executor of Dodd’s estate and a pallbearer at his funeral.
Faucett later was instrumental in building “Atlantic Station,” a city within the city of Atlanta located next to the Georgia Tech campus. Faucett lives about an hour’s drive from Atlanta on a farm that he opens to youth groups and missionaries.
