SPRINGFIELD, Ga. — The last time I saw Greg Hood, I didn’t know it would be the last time. But it was.

Greg passed away Feb. 20 at the far-too-young age of 51. He left behind a wife, children, family, and countless people in this community who will miss him greatly—myself included.

Greg was one of the first people to make me feel welcome when I started at the Effingham Herald in June 1995, and I’ve never forgotten him for that.

A friend in the stands

I was hired fresh out of Georgia Southern’s journalism school to cover local sports, long before social media made it easy for critics to practice their art. Back then, shortcomings were revealed up close and personal—mine certainly were.

My first season covering Effingham County football was a mixed blessing. I grew to respect and like the coaching staff and players, and many of the people I met along the way, but a handful of seemingly perpetually unhappy parents and boosters tried to make my life miserable. At one point, I was warned at halftime of an away game that one of them had threatened to put sugar in my gas tank.

Contrast that with Greg, who approached me on the sideline at old Rebel Field during the 1995 season and told me to keep doing what I was doing. He probably didn’t realize how much that simple gesture meant at the time—or how much it still does.

We struck up a friendship that largely revolved around Rebel sports. After about two and a half years, I left the Herald—first for a small daily in southwest Georgia and later for a paper in Liberty County.

The voice of Rebel Field

In 2015, I returned to Effingham County briefly to work with Julie Hales as editor of her magazines. We launched the short-lived “Effingham Sports Digest,” a local take on the old “Baseball Digest.” One of the stories I got to write featured Greg, who had become the “Voice of Rebel Field” as the stadium’s public address announcer.

We did the interview in a local barbecue restaurant, and everyone there knew him and shook his hand—because that was Greg. People gravitated toward him, and he returned the favor. In that story, I quoted him saying he had a “dreamy” voice—an important quality for a PA announcer.

‘Big Hood,’ big heart

To me, Greg was always “Big Hood,” to distinguish him from his brother, Effingham County Schools Assistant Superintendent Tim Hood, who was an assistant football coach and teacher—and remains one of my favorite people.

"Big Hood" was, well, big. He stood 6-foot-4 and, when I met him, weighed more than his high school playing weight of 275 pounds. While I never saw him strap on the chinstrap, from all accounts he was good enough to play college football. He was an all-region performer at Effingham County, but school wasn’t his thing, and he had other plans after graduating in 1993.

He certainly pursued a variety of paths. His obituary notes he worked in recreation, law enforcement, and spent his final years as assistant transportation director for the Effingham County Board of Education. Driving a school bus takes a special kind of person—and I once heard someone say school bus driver years count like dog years.

I lost touch after leaving the magazine job in 2016 but ran into him at the Effingham County–South Effingham game in 2024. He was the same old "Big Hood" and gave one of the best quotes of the night: “We can be rivals on Friday night and all end up in church together Sunday morning.” I liked that.

The last encounter

The last time I saw him was sometime in 2025 at the Southern Kafe in Guyton. "Big Hood" came in to pick up an order—but he wasn’t so big anymore.

“Cancer will do that to you,” he said.

He was in a hurry, and I was left in stunned silence. That was the last time I saw Greg—who, as his obituary notes, “was known as a friendly man who would help anyone with anything at any time.”

He helped me all those years ago on the sideline at old Rebel Field. He reminded me there are those who tear people down and those who lift them up. Greg, in no uncertain terms, lifted people up. I’m just one of many fortunate enough to have known him.

My condolences go out to his family and many close friends.

 — Jeff Whiten is former editor of the Effingham Herald