While Herschel Walker is given a lot of credit for landing the University of Georgia’s last football national championship 36 years ago, Scott Woerner at least deserves a big slap on the back.
On a defense with such talents as Jimmy Payne, Eddie Weaver, Jeff Hipp and freshman Terry Hoage, it was Woerner who put away the 1980 national championship on a last-minute interception against Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl. Woerner, according to coach Vince Dooley, that “was to our defense and kicking game what Herschel Walker was to our offense.”
How Woerner arrived in Athens is an interesting story.
Born in Baytown, Texas, his family moved moved to La Porte, a coastal town outside Houston, and then relocated to Morrow when he was 10. His father had been transferred to take a managerial role here in a compressed gas company.
Woerner played for coach Weyman Sellers at Jonesboro High School and, as a quarterback/running back, quickly became one of the top players in the state. Sellers had made his name in Athens, coaching the high school which today is Clarke Central and Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton.
At Jonesboro, the Cardinals were 0-10 during Woerner’s freshman season but jumped to 7-3 his sophomore season, 7-3 as a junior and 6-4 as a senior. While Woerner became a top prospect in the state, his team could not make the playoffs because it couldn’t beat region foe Griffin, which had such players as Willie Gault and Freddie Gilbert, the latter becoming a teammate of his at Georgia.
Woerner, also a track and basketball star at Jonesboro, was close to going to the University of Texas, but decided against it when coach Darrell Royal retired. He then headed for Athens. As a freshman for the Bulldogs, he was moved to defense but played mainly on special teams, returning 22 kickoffs for 546 yards. In a game against Kentucky, he returned six kickoffs for 190 yards, a single-game school record which still stands.
He became a starter at cornerback his sophomore season, intercepting four passes, and took over punt return duties, finishing second in the SEC with 277 yards and one TD as the Bulldogs went 9-2-1. As a junior, he intercepted four more passes and then came the national championship season.
With the Bulldogs going 12-0, Woerner may have been the best defensive back in the SEC if not the entire country, intercepting five passes and making 47 tackles. He had several big games but none bigger than the 20-16 win over Clemson, when he returned a punt 67 yards for a touchdown and set up a Walker touchdown on a 98-yard interception return. He was named All-American along with Walker and placekicker Rex Robinson.
He remembers the Florida win much differently than most who recall the Buck Belue-to-Lindsey Scott touchdown pass. It was Woerner who minutes earlier had been beaten on a TD pass that put the Gators ahead and Georgia in a situation where it needed a near miracle to win.
Against Notre Dame, Woerner had a great game, culminating with the interception off Irish quarterback Blair Kiel late in the 17-10 victory. He had also had a key end-zone breakup in the third quarter, another interception and a key tackle on a third-and-1, which led to a missed Notre Dame field goal.
It was never the same in the NFL. He was drafted in the third round by the Falcons in 1981 and spent one year with the team, mainly on special teams. He cut next season at the end of training camp and sat out the year before going to Philadelphia in the new United States Football League.
There for three seasons, he thrived, Woerner became one of the best defensive backs in the league while the Stars won two USFL championships. But the league folded and Woerner tried the NFL again, coming back as a replacement player in New Orleans during the 1987 strike season. He played in the three replacements games before returning to Atlanta and getting into real estate. He also went back to Georgia to complete work on his degree and has been a school teacher ever since.
He will be inducted later this year into the College Football Hall of Fame, the 13th Georgia player to receive the honor, joining Walker and Hoage.
Where he lives: Woerner, 57, lives with his wife of 33 years, Marianne, a few miles outside Helen. They have no children but a host of nieces and nephews. Said Woerner, "I think I have 60 on her side. I can always find someone to go fishing and hunting with me.'' The couple also has 11 cats and a dog.
What he does: An outdoorsman, Woerner loves to garden and says he has so much fresh spinach, "I can't eat it all and can't get anybody to come get it.'' He currently teaches at Habersham County Middle School.
On playing at Jonesboro High: "I loved playing for coach Sellers. He changed my life. The problem was we couldn't beat Griffin. We had them beat 10-7 my junior year but they threw a bomb in the end zone which I intercepted but our free safety was called for interference.''
On his career at Georgia: "It was like winning the lottery. Also, it has been great to keep my anonymity unless I choose to let it out or someone recognizes my driver's license.''
On playing with Walker: "When he made that run in the South Carolina game, I truly understood what type of player he could be. On that play, he outran the angles on three players and there are only a few players that I have played through the years that could do that. Also, to see him line up in college on the track in the middle of a bunch of small guys and outrun them all is pretty unbelievable.''
On the Sugar Bowl: "It was really hot in Superdome, 100 degrees or something. They had crappy turf and coach (Erk) Russell was rolling in a lot of people. My mentality was like a fourth grader playing football at recess. I just went out there and played and had fun. On that last interception, we had a great pass rush and the receiver stumbled behind me and I think the quarterback was trying to throw the ball out of bounds. And it came right to me. I still have that ball and that game has been paying me back for 36 years now.''
On playing for the Falcons: "I thought it was a dream when it happened but it was the longest year of my life, playing for Jerry Glanville. He was crazy. I put him and Donald Trump in the same bucket. Jerry was Napoleon and, by the way, Trump ruined the USFL.''
On his time in the USFL: "I loved it. We had a great team in Philly. Our quarterback was a guy named Chuck Fussina from Penn State and he was a lot like Buck Belue. All he did was win. We were 19-2 in 1984 and I got to play in London in Wembley Stadium. I remember playing against Houston and Jim Kelly. He threw the only ball I ever saw like Steve Bartkowski that whistled when it went through the air.''
On Georgia bringing in Kirby Smart: "I think his attitude is what we need. We had lost our toughness and having played for a coach you didn't want to disappoint in Erk Russell, I think Kirby will be the same way.''
On his induction into the College Hall of Fame: "Like I have been saying, what happened at Georgia has been paying me off for an awfully long time.''
About the Author
