Loran Smith - George Patton
Loran
Smith
Sometimes it is difficult to evaluate an athlete’s makeup in terms of what is most significant in his/her development that determines the root cause of success.
With George Patton, there was creative ability—he just had to locate the right place to flourish, find the most propitious fit—but, perhaps, the most defining asset was his competitive heart. The man loved football; he was imbued with the ultimate passion to play his favorite sport. He was driven to succeed by disrupting offenses and making game changing big plays. Not with brawn, but with finesse.
When he arrived in Athens in 1963 from Tuscumbia, Ala., he was a strongarmed quarterback with impressive and substantial statistical accumulations, but to have kept him buried at the position as a signal caller would have brought about a serious miscasting. Patton’s enduring love of the game, the pure, unadulterated infatuation of mixing it up, getting into the thick of the action and matching wits with his opponent led to greatness. He wasn’t all that big (6-3, 210), but with signature quickness and extraordinary football smarts he became one of the greatest defensive linemen in UGA history. His quarterback experience gave him analytical insights which, linked with his insatiable desire for playing the game, enabled him to reach exalted heights on the field.
A two-time All-America selection, three-time All-SEC, accomplished student and a leader non-pareil, Patton was the consummate over achiever. In my time at UGA, I have never known a more accomplished player who gave more of himself to the glory of ol’ Georgia than George Patton.
You couldn’t be a better teammate than George. He was a small town, old fashioned good citizen, imbued with goodwill for his community. He was selfless, a leader who underscored togetherness off the field. He would buy a case of beer or two or more to celebrate victory, but he would make sure that a few beers would not evolve into anything miscre- continued from page
ant and become detrimental to the success of the team.
The most fortuitous moment in his UGA life came about when Erk Russell became the defensive coordinator. George was the eager, hungry, diamond in the rough, ambitious, all-American boy who became an All-America defensive tackle who didn’t pout when the idea of playing defense was broached. He told Vince Dooley, the 31-year-old head coach, “It doesn’t matter to me where I play, Coach. I just want to play.”
You saw his No. 76 in the opponent’s backfield almost as much as their own running backs. Patton was as fundamentally sound of a player at his position as there was in the SEC during his time, but he also had a flair for the spectacular. Against Alabama at Tuscaloosa in 1964, his sophomore year (freshmen were ineligible for varsity competition in those years), he burst through the line of scrimmage on his first career play and tackled the great Joe Namath for an eightyard loss.
While that was not a memorable occasion, with Alabama dominating the Bulldogs 31-3, it was obvious that Patton was a precocious young talent who was going to enjoy head turning success for the new coaching staff in Athens.
Erk and George Patton were made for each other: Patton was the energizer bunny on steroids whose passion to compete and play a game that he truly loved was flamingly exceptional. Erk was the ultimate motivator, who helped Patton hone his skills by accenting his quickness and learning to put himself in the right place at the right time, which brought about stunning results.
George helped lay the cornerstone for Vince Dooley’s ultra-successful career. Dooley once said that George was one player of whom you could say that “he never had an off day.” Dooley also said George “was one of the finest college football players I ever saw.”
When Bill Stanfill was recruited to Georgia in 1965, he gained an immediate appreciation for his teammate. “George,” Stanfill said, “kept us fired up all the time. He was like a coach on the field. He could diagnose plays and was always in the right place at the right time.”
The UGA Hall of Fame Chapter and the Georgia Athletic Association have nominated George for membership in the College Football Hall of Fame.
Patton’s nomination will be reviewed by the Ole Timer’s committee of the National Football Foundation in the coming weeks, and the local consensus is that George has a great opportunity to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame. For certain, he is worthy.
