It’s not well known, but I kicked field goals and extra points at the University of Georgia in 1980, the last time Georgia went undefeated and won the national championship. You don’t want to hear about that, though.
To some people, I would be considered a lukewarm UGA fan. I’ve never even bought a ticket to a UGA game, not even when Cheryl and I lived maybe a mile away from Sanford Stadium. Usually, on the weekends, Athens got much smaller. Many students went home on the weekends and most of the staff was out in the suburbs, so it was a good time to get out. But not when we had a home football game. Those were days that we planned to be at home all day. Not only did virtually no one leave campus, but people came to Athens by the tens of thousands.
In 1980, the town was obsessed with football as I had never seen before, nor would I ever see again. Even the radio stations played ridiculous football songs. There was a song called “Give Hershel Walker the Ball” that I must have heard a thousand times when I lived in Athens. That 1980 team wasn’t supposed to be great. They started the year ranked 16th and barely escaped Tennesse with a 16-15 win in their first game. There would be other close games, including the one against Florida. Georgia was behind in that game with roughly 90 seconds left and 92 yards away from a touchdown when quarterback Buck Belue found Lindsay Scott – here’s how the legendary Larry Munson called it:
“Florida in a stand-up five, they may or may not blitz, they won’t. Buck back. Third down on the 8. In trouble. Got a block behind him. Going to throw on the run. Complete to the 25, to the 30. Lindsay Scott 35, 40. Lindsay Scott 45, 50, 45, 40. Run Lindsay! Twenty-five, 20, 15, 10, 5. Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! Lindsay Scott! … Well, I can’t believe it. 92 yards and Lindsay really got in a footrace, I broke my chair, I came right through a chair, a metal STEEL chair with about a five inch cushion … Do you know what is gonna happen here tonight? And up at St. Simons and Jekyll Island and all those places where all those Dawg people have got those condominiums for four days? MAN, is there gonna be some property destroyed tonight! 26 to 21, Dawgs on top! We were gone. I gave up, you did too. We were out of it and gone. Miracle!”
That’s the type of thing that happens with great teams. Someone steps up when it’s needed. Other weeks, it was Herschel Walker. In the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, it was mainly due to turnovers and what some people refer to as the longest onside kick in history.
I admit I did see about a quarter of one game in person, but not from inside the stadium. In those days, the east end of Sanford Stadium was open. If you ventured across the street and up the hill to the railroad tracks, you could see the game for free. The people who did this regularly were known as the “Track People,” and they let me join them once (which was enough). They were a rough crowd and a good bit more intoxicated than the crowd inside the stadium. There was no place for fans of the visiting team on the tracks. The beer bottles would fly if anyone got within throwing distance with a hint of support for the opposition.
The legendary Erk Russell wrote the following letter to his defensive linemen before the start of the 1980 season:
“Gentlemen: The football season of ’80 will be my seventeenth as a Georgia Bulldog. During this time there have been many thrilling Saturdays of competition, each with its individual memories, because each game has its own personality.
There are two Saturday traditions and experiences which have remained basically the same throughout the years for me and I would like to share them with you.
The first one concerns the RAILROAD TRACK CROWD. These are my people because they love the Dogs almost as much as I do. Oh, I know they do some crazy things- like turn over our opponent’s buses sometimes and now and then they throw one another down the bank and into the street below. But they stamp out Kudzu and they pull for us to win and that ain’t bad. If you can get off the bus to cheers of THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD and walk down those steps to the dressing room and not be inspired to play football as best you possibly can, something important is missing beneath the Georgia jersey you wear. It is impossible not to be inspired. They choke me up!
The season of 1980 will be the last for THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD. A great Georgia tradition will have passed with the new addition to our stadium. The view from the tracks will be no more.
Your team will be the last Georgia Team to be greeted and cheered by the RAILROAD TRACK CROWD. Wouldn’t it be fitting if their last team was also the best Georgia Team ever? Think about it!
Another Saturday tradition which has meant so much to me over the years can be stated very simply. “THERE AIN’T NOTHING LIKE BEING A BULLDOG ON SATURDAY NIGHT—–AFTER WINNING A FOOTBALL GAME.” I mean like whipping Tennessee’s ass to start with, then ten more and then another one.
This is the game plan. We have no alternate plan.”
Well, the game plan worked. They would close off the east end of the stadium the following year. The legend was the “Track People” put a curse on the team because of that, and UGA would never win another national championship. I guess curses are made to be broken.