Before he was a coach, Republic’s Steve Forbis had an elite football career in Republic, then at Missouri Southern. And now he’s been recognized as one of this year’s “Elite 11” by the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.
The Elite 11 is a group of former high school and college football standouts chosen by the hall and recognized at its annual NFL Kickoff Luncheon. This is the second year of selections.
Forbis led the Republic defense in 1980 and 1981, helping the Tigers to their first-ever undefeated regular seasons. He went on to be an Academic All-American at Missouri Southern in 1984, and he still holds that school’s all-time record for tackles in a single season, with 148.
“All the guys that I played with when I was playing––everyone was about the same,” Forbis says. “I don’t look at myself as as being one of the Elite 11. I’m honored to have that opportunity, but I don’t know how much more deserving I am than anybody else.”
Forbis says it’s meaningful to him that he is a representative of a successful era in the history of Republic football.
“There was a long time there at Republic when you didn’t really get any recognition for football,” he says. “Once the winning started in the early 80s, we went from a nobody to a somebody, and that was a big deal for us then. It’s a big honor for me to be able to not only represent the school, but also all the guys that I played with during that era, and even coached in the late 80s.”
In addition to Forbis, this year’s Elite 11 featured defensive lineman Brett Potts (Bolivar, Pittsburg State); quarterback Eric Czerniewski (Montgomery County, Central Missouri); lineman Rusty Shadel (Lebanon, Missouri State); running back Rex Sawyer (Ava, Missouri Valley College); defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams (Mizzou); punter/quarterback Chuck Blair (Camdenton, Central Missouri); placekicker Jeremy Flores (Willard, Colorado); defensive back T.J. Onstott (Lamar, Missouri Southern); split end Steve Newbold (Aurora, Missouri State); and running back Justin Gerald (Hillcrest, Central Methodist).
Forbis was inducted into the Republic Tiger Sports Hall of Fame earlier this year. You can read more about his Republic career highlights here.
