OUR MEMBERS
RICHARD APPLEBY
Co-Founder & Member Board of Directors
Richard Appleby attended Clarke Central High School and was part of the first integrated team. Drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, Appleby went on to sign with the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League in 1977. After leaving the league, Appleby opened a business in Hawaii, where he currently resides.
CHUCK KINNEBREW
Co-Founder & Secretary, Board of Directors,
Media, Marketing, and Communications
Before integrating the University of Georgia football team, Chuck Kinnebrew attended West Rome High School in Rome, Ga., where he was a State champion discus thrower, heavyweight wrestling champion, selected to the All-state football team and elected as captain of the North All-star Football Team. He graduated from The University of Georgia with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree and led a career at various Fortune 100 corporations, starting off with positions of leadership at DuPont. He also worked as senior director of purchasing at The Home Depot, managing a $7 billion budget.
He most recently retired as Floor & Decor’s first Vice President of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and enjoys playing tennis, traveling, listening to jazz and is an established art collector. Kinnebrew serves on the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art Board of Advisors, University of Georgia Alumni Association Board of Directors and is actively involved in the Georgia Football Letterman’s Club. He is also an active member of the prestigious Magill Society and the President’s club. A lifetime member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, he and his wife Denise have three children, six grandchildren and recently celebrated their 33rd anniversary. He currently lives in Smyrna, Ga.
HORACE KING
Co-Founder & Chairman
Horace King, running back and Athens, Ga. native, also attended Clarke Central High School and played as part of the school’s first integrated team during his senior year. King became the first African-American to score a touchdown for the Bulldogs in 1973. He continued his streak of trailblazing, becoming the first Black football player from Georgia drafted to play in the National Football League. After being drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1975, he spent nine seasons with the organization. He retired in 1983 and led a 24-year career at General Motors in the engineering department. King retired in 2009 and currently enjoys spending his time gardening, reading, and golfing. King participates in numerous charity golf initiatives,
including the NFLPA Charity Scholarship, Alexis Kaiser Foundation, and Phil Niekro Memorial Golf Classic. He is also a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and the UGA Letterman’s Club. King and his wife Mitzi celebrated their 46th anniversary in December of 2022 and have two daughters and two grandsons.
REV. CLARENCE POPE
Co-Founder & Director of Operations
After integrating Clarke Central High School’s football team, Clarence Pope became one of The Bulldogs Original Five to do the same at the University of Georgia. Shortly after attending UGA, Pope joined the Athens Fire Department in 1976 and discovered a new purpose working in social services for 36 years. He earned the rank of Fire Lieutenant at Athens-Clarke County Fire and Emergency Services and ministered as Fire Chaplain. Since then, he studied at Beulah Heights University and currently serves as the Associate Pastor of New Freedom Christian Center in Athens, Ga. Pope has served as Director of Athens Recovery Ministries, a non-profit organization assisting men in gaining sobriety.
He has also served as a mentor in the Athens Clarke County School District. He and his wife, Peggy Mahone Pope, live in Athens, Ga., and have one daughter, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
REV. DR. LARRY B. WEST
Co-Founder & Director of Development
Larry West was a defensive back at the University of Georgia, as part of The Bulldogs Original Five. Graduating from Albany High School, in Albany, Ga., it was not Larry’s first-time making history. He was one of the first African-Americans to enter middle school in Albany and the first student to letter in four major sports all three years at Albany High School. Completing his degree work at the University of Georgia, West graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Management and worked as General Manager of Government Sales with Collins and Aikman’s Floor Covering Division, another first. After serving the corporate community for 20 years, he became a licensed minister and pursued a Master of Arts in Theology and a Doctorate in Religious Studies.
For the last 30 years, West has served as Senior Pastor of two churches, with the last 21 years at the Mount Airy Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. There, he gained national prominence as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the National Baptist Convention USA, Inc., an organization responsible for 7.5 million people and 33,000 constituent churches, the largest African American Denominational body in the Western Hemisphere. He presently serves on the Board of Directors of the Joshua Fund and the Executive Committee of the Missionary Baptist Ministers Conference of Washington, D.C., and Vicinity. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity and a life member of the NAACP. West and his college sweetheart wife of 48 years, Gwen, have two outstanding sons, two adorable daughters-in-law and three wonderful grandsons.
CHRIS BURGETT, CCO
Executive Director, Honorary Bulldog 6,
Chris Burgett joins the team following in the footsteps of The Bulldogs Original Five and his Georgia football fraternity brothers. Turning down smaller collegiate scholarships, Chris chose to take the high road and walked on to the University of Georgia football program. After a standout redshirt freshman campaign, he earned his place on the field—first as a running back and later transitioning to free safety.
Over his collegiate career, Chris appeared in more than 37 games on special teams, earned the team’s Summer Workout Award MVP, and became a respected three-year Varsity Letterman. He played under former Head Coach Mark Richt, with Kirby Smart—now Georgia’s back-to-back National Championship head coach—serving as his position coach. Chris graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007 with a degree in Family & Consumer Economics.
Today, Chris has built a successful career as a consultant in digital marketing, media production, and brand development, working with organizations and athletes to amplify their message and connect authentically with audiences. He also serves as the producer and creative director of The Godspeed Podcast, which he co-created with his former teammate and lifelong friend, Tra Battle. The show blends storytelling, purpose, and faith-driven conversation to inspire listeners from all walks of life.
You can often find Chris behind the camera capturing the energy of Georgia Bulldog home games, or developing creative campaigns that bridge tradition, storytelling, and modern media strategy. Outside of work, Chris enjoys cooking, listening to music, and spending quality time with his family in the Kentucky countryside.
SHERYL MERRIT, PR
Public Relations & Communications
Sheryl Merrit is a writer and communications strategist who started her professional career in corporate and moved into the entertainment industry, where she has enjoyed a 30-plus year long career. Sheryl is a 1988 University of Georgia graduate of the College of Family & Consumer Sciences and holds a B.S.H.E degree in Fashion Merchandising. A passionate Georgia alum, Sheryl started her service to the alumni association as a member of the multicultural committee. She was co-president of the DeKalb County Chapter (when the Atlanta chapters were county based), served on the Alumni Association Board of Directors,
and was a member of the inaugural Black Alumni Leadership Council. There she was a part of the team that developed the 1961 Club in 2018. The 1961 Club, named for the year of desegregation at the University of Georgia, is a group of donors who share a passion for ensuring undergraduate student success. They support the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund and work to elimiinate financial obstacles, remove barriers to education and keep the doors open for students to attain a quality education. To date, the 1961 club has raised almost $1M.
Since leading as the Public Relations Director for The Five, Sheryl has secured placements on the "The Paul Finebaum Show" (SEC Network /ESPN) and Fox 5's "Bulldogs Game Day." She has also been instrumental in connecting The Five with other alumni, university faculty and staff, and the general public. Sheryl works closely to ensure the members receive their just recognition for paving the way and serving the trailblazers of the University of Georgia football team.