Aaron Fox is soft-spoken, but he was a two-way force on the football field in his playing days at Meridian High and East Mississippi Junior College, now named East Mississippi Community College.

“He’s always been fairly quiet,” Randall Bradberry, who coached football at EMJC from 1976 to 1987, said. “He wasn’t loud or boisterous or anything like that. He wasn’t anti-social, but he didn’t talk a lot.”

The quiet but mighty Fox will be welcomed into the EMCC Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2022 at Thursday’s football game against Northwest Mississippi Community College.

Fox was born in Meridian in 1966. He began playing sports in seventh grade, and he joined Meridian’s track and field, basketball, and football teams once he got to high school.

While Fox was a well-rounded athlete, he was a star on the football field. The two-way contributor lined up at receiver on offense, and he earned all-state honors in 1984 for his play at defensive end. Fox attributes his success in athletics to the hard work he put in.

“It’s just something I wanted to do. I’ve just got a love for football,” Fox said. “That’s all I wanted to do.”

After high school, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Fox went to EMJC on scholarship to continue his football career in 1985. Bradberry put Fox at defensive end as a freshman because of his combination of speed and power.

“Nobody ever caught him from behind,” Bradberry said. “He was one of these guys that can be standing in one spot and uncoil on you. A lot of spring in him and a lot of power.”

Fox earned an all-state honorable mention for his play at defensive end in his freshman season, but he was moved to the offensive side of the ball to play split end prior to his sophomore season because the Lions were depleted at wide receiver. Despite the switch, Fox continued to dominate.

“He just had so much speed and jumping ability,” Bradberry said. “It didn’t make sense to us to not put him out there and throw the football to him. It would be hard today for an average sized defensive back to cover that guy and be able to attack him once he got the football, and it was certainly hard back then because defensive backs back then weren’t as tough as they are today probably.”

Fox earned All-Region 23 and all-state honors as the Mississippi Junior College Athletic Association’s leading receiver with 42 receptions for 747 yards and seven touchdowns. He was also named a National Junior College Athletic Association First Team All-American in 1986.

“He didn’t like losing,” Bradberry said. “He was a competitive type of guy. I think he played hard and I think he did what he could. I never saw him give up.”

After his time at EMJC, Fox bounced around to Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Southern Arkansas before ending up at Fort Hays State in Kansas.

He ended up working in the air conditioning business after his playing days until his son, De’Aaron Fox of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings, helped him retire. Fox said his son has the same competitive spirit that he had as a young athlete.

“I think he’s very deserving to be recognized for what he did for the football program and for the school as a whole,” Bradberry said. “When you’re a junior college all-American, it means you’re recognized nationwide, and I think he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”

“It took a long time,” Fox said with a laugh.