Georgia beat writer Chip Towers says these five should be in any conversation when discussions turn to the school’s best football player.
1. Herschel Walker, TB (1980-82)
The 6-foot-2, 222-pound Walker used his world-class speed to rush for a record 5,259 yards and 52 touchdowns in three seasons. As a freshman in 1980, he rushed for 1,616 yards and led the Bulldogs to an undefeated season and a national championship. He won the Heisman Trophy his junior season in 1982. By that time he owned 41 school records, 16 SEC records and 11 NCAA records, and Georgia won three consecutive SEC championships while he played.
2. Charley Trippi, RB/QB (1942-46)
In a career that was interrupted by World War II, Trippi’s teams could lay claim to two national championships, a consensus one in 1942 and another in the undefeated season of 1946. As a senior he led the SEC in scoring with 84 points and finished with 1,366 yards of offense, an unheard of total in those days. The Maxwell Award winner went on to a Hall of Fame pro career.
3. Frank Sinkwich, RB/QB (1940-42)
No list of Georgia greats is complete without “Flatfoot Frankie,” the only other Bulldogs player to win the Heisman Trophy, which he did as a senior in 1942. Sinkwich led the nation in rushing in 1941 with 1,103 yards but was also a great passer. In his three-year college career, Sinkwich rushed for 2,271 yards, passed for 2,331 yards, and accounted for 60 touchdowns — 30 rushing and 30 passing.
4. Bill Stanfill, DT (1966-68)
Georgia’s best defensive lineman of all-time was a sack specialist before people knew what one was. Stanfill was voted All-SEC in 1966, 1967 and 1968 and was named an All-American and SEC lineman of the year his senior season. Also an academic All-American and team captain, Stanfill went on to an All-Pro career and won two Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins.
5. David Greene, QB (2001-04)
Greene was the best friend and teammate of defensive end David Pollack, the only Bulldogs player other than Walker to be named first-team All-American three times. But as the starting quarterback for four seasons, Greene left Georgia as the winningest college quarterback in history with 42 victories, was the SEC’s all-time passing leader with 11,528 yards and 72 touchdowns and led the Bulldogs to their first SEC championship in 20 years.
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