ATHENS — Before his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame next month, former Georgia star Jake Scott will hear the cheers of the Sanford Stadium crowd one more time.
Scott is scheduled to be honored during the first quarter of Georgia’s game against Auburn on Saturday as part of the National Football Foundation’s on-campus salute program.
In a tradition that began with college football’s first Hall of Fame class in 1951, each inductee returns to his alma mater to be recognized on the field during a game.
Scott, who played safety and returned kicks for Georgia in 1967-68, will be inducted during a black-tie event at New York’s Waldorf Astoria hotel Dec. 6. He will become the 12th former UGA player in the Hall.
Scott was all-SEC in ’67 and ’68 and a consensus All-American in ’68. He left UGA after the ’68 season, his junior season, reportedly because of a rift with coach Vince Dooley over which bowl the Bulldogs played in. Dooley said this week that he looks forward to seeing Scott this weekend.
“As far as an athlete, I’m not sure that we’ve had a better one or one that was more committed to football,” Dooley said. “He loved football, and he studied football as much as anybody we’ve ever had.”
Scott, who starred for the Miami Dolphins in the 1970s and was MVP of Super Bowl VII, could have entered the college Hall years ago. But the famously reclusive Scott rebuffed those, including Dooley, who sought to have him selected previously.
On a conference call from his Hawaii home after being named to this year’s Hall class in May, Scott said: “I haven’t been hiding out. I’ve just been somewhere else.”
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