By Loyd McIntosh
The Alabama Sports Hall of Fame (ASHOF) recently recognized two influential men with deep ties to Homewood. Johnny Montgomery, recipient of the 2025 Frank “Pig” House Award, and Jeff Underwood, recipient of the Distinguished American Sportsman Award, were honored for their efforts to promote sports throughout the state and their decades of service to the community.
Johnny Montgomery: A Lifetime of Competition and Service
A native of Tuscaloosa, Montgomery was recognized for his athletic achievements and service to the world of track and field and multi-sport racing. Montgomery excelled in the decathlon while a student at Tuscaloosa County High School in the mid-1960s before moving on to the track program at Livingston University (now the University of West Alabama).
In the 1980s, Montgomery discovered Ironman Triathlons, competing in eight Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, between 1984 and 2004, the only Alabamian to accomplish the feat. He also earned a spot on Team USA, capturing an age-group world championship in duathlon competitions across multiple countries. Over his five-decade career, he has completed more than 200 triathlons, been ranked first in his age group in the Southeast seven times and volunteered at nearly every major running event in the Birmingham area.
Now in his late 70s, Montgomery is still active as a volunteer at local events and as a coach to local multi-sport athletes, including an athlete who competed in the Ironman in Kona on October 11. ASHOF Executive Director and Homewood resident Scott Myers says Montgomery has been an influential figure in the Birmingham sports scene and is well-deserving of the award. “He was honored for the work he’s done volunteering and serving at almost every major running event in Birmingham in the past 40 years,” Myers says. “He’s just always there, always continuing to encourage and make an impact on the community. The accomplishments he had as an athlete are amazing, but the service that he gave to his community and in track-and-field and all those events was just tremendous.”
Montgomery no longer competes, but he continues to train athletes in Vestavia Hills every Tuesday, and, over the years, has coached athletes competing for world triathlon championships to novices running in their first 5K races.
While his notoriety comes from his athletic achievements, and he has been nominated for induction alongside greats like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Bear Bryant, he says the Frank “Pig” House Award is a greater honor. “Most everyone knows what I’ve done athletically, but to receive this award is something special because it’s about me giving back to the sport I love,” Montgomery says. “All the world champions and national champions that we’ve had—football players, baseball players, basketball players, track and field, tennis—these people are recognized all over the world, not just locally. It’s humbling to think I’m recognized with some of these people.”
Named in honor of ASHOF’s first chairman, the Frank “Pig” House award is given to individuals who have performed exemplary services to sports in Alabama.
Jeff Underwood: Building an Inclusive Sports Legacy
The founding President and CEO of Lakeshore Foundation, Underwood led the organization for three decades, transforming it from a three-person operation into a globally recognized leader in fitness, recreation, research and advocacy for people with physical disabilities and chronic health conditions.
“The work he did for over 30 years at Lakeshore Foundation, and what they were able to do for people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, and all that they did for the Paralympic movement at Lakeshore was so significant,” Myers says. “Having Lakeshore Foundation named as a U.S. Olympic and Paralympic training site is so important to our community, and his service as a member of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee was tremendous as well.”
Underwood and his family moved from Phoenix, Arizona, to Homewood in the mid-1950s, where his father was elected to the City Council in the mid-1960s. Underwood went to work at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center and served as a legislative assistant to former U.S. Representative Ben Erdreich.
In 1991, Underwood was named the first President and CEO of Lakeshore Foundation, a position he held until he retired in 2021. He represented District 19 in the Alabama State Senate from 1993-1995 and was elected to the Homewood City Council in 2008, serving as the council president until resigning in 2010 due to his throat cancer diagnosis.
Under Underwood’s leadership, Lakeshore became the first U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Site, supported more than 52 Paralympic teams and developed programs like Lima Foxtrot, which has served thousands of injured military personnel and their families nationwide. “I was surprised, excited and most of all humbled to receive the American Sportsman of the Year from the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame,” he says. “I was particularly gratified as this award brought attention and awareness to the U.S. Paralympic program of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), to the great work of Lakeshore Foundation, which is the premier adapted sports organization in the U.S., to the ASHOF for its long-standing recognition of athletes with disability and of course to the athletes themselves.”
Underwood continues, “This award recognizes the commitment Lakeshore Foundation made decades ago to people with physical disabilities, a commitment that continues to grow. Lakeshore has produced dozens of members of the U.S. Paralympic Team, is home to three different sports, is among an elite group of official USOPC Training Sites and has hosted many international events. I am proud to have been a part of this work and the positive attention it brings to our state and community.”
The Distinguished American Sportsman Award was created by the ASHOF Board of Directors in 1986 and honors individuals who have made significant contributions to sports in Alabama and beyond. Underwood joins such honorees as former University of Alabama running back Kerry Goode; Gene Hallman, President and CEO of Eventive Sports and executive director of the Alabama Sports Foundation and John Croyle, former Crimson Tide legend and founder of Big Oak Boys Ranch.
To learn more about Montgomery and Underwood, visit ashof.org.
