A piece of Georgia Tech history is for sale.
A ring commemorating the Yellow Jackets' shared national championship season in 1952 is being auctioned. As of Tuesday afternoon, the highest bid on the Lelands auction house website was $777. The bidding closes at 9 p.m. Friday.
A Lelands spokesman said in an email the seller’s identity is a “mystery,” but it appears to have belonged to longtime Tech assistant coach Lewis Woodruff. The ring is inscribed with the initials LCW, and Tech’s digital archives identify Woodruff in a photo as “Lewis C. Woodruff.” Tech’s media guide does not list another coach or letterwinner who was on that team with those initials.
Woodruff coached at Tech from 1947-67. According to the school archive, he worked at Cousins Properties until his retirement in 1977 and died in 1988.
According to Lelands, the ring is 10-karat gold and is rated in near-mint condition.
Tech completed the 1952 season 12-0, winning the SEC and the Sugar Bowl, and was in the midst of a 31-game unbeaten streak. The Jackets were No. 2 in the AP and UPI (coaches) final polls and were named national champion by the International News Service.
The team included six All-Americans, including linebacker George Morris, considered Tech’s best player in the Bobby Dodd era, and another, center Larry Morris, who was named an All-American a year later. Both Morrises (who were unrelated) made the College Football Hall of Fame, as did Dodd, the coach of the team.
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