Post by TheShadow on Dec 10, 2003 5:42:51 GMT -5
www.ajc.com
By TONY BARNHART
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
New York -- At age 14, John Rauch was told by a doctor that he would have to
give up football because of a heart murmur.
Luckily for the University of Georgia, Rauch got a second opinion. He was
cleared to play, and as a quarterback in Wally Butts' sophisticated passing
attack, Rauch led Georgia to SEC championships in 1946 and 1948. He left
college football with a host of honors and as a head coach took the Oakland
Raiders to the 1967 Super Bowl.
But Rauch's greatest honor in football did not come until Tuesday night,
when he was officially inducted as the 14th Georgia player in the College
Football Hall of Fame.
"This one has been way overdue," said Georgia athletics director Vince
Dooley, who went into the Hall as a coach in 1994. "For a long time Georgia
people have recognized what a great player John Rauch was and how deserving
he was to be in the Hall of Fame. We are proud that it has finally
happened."
"I can't tell you how much this means to me," said Rauch, 73, who lives in
Oldsmar, Fla. "Coach Dooley and a lot the Georgia family have been pulling
for me. I owe this to them."
Rauch has the distinction of starting every single game during his four-year
career with the Bulldogs. Georgia won 36 of the 45 games Rauch started. The
1946 team went 11-0 and was declared national champions. He also was the
first player in college football history to start four consecutive bowl
games.
A three-time All-SEC player, Rauch left Georgia as college football's
all-time leading passer with 4,044 yards. He still ranks third in Georgia
history in career yards-per-completion average (16.05).
Rauch was the first overall pick in the 1949 NFL draft and played four
seasons before beginning his career in coaching. He was an assistant coach
at five colleges, including Georgia, and then joined the staff of the
Oakland Raiders. He became head coach three years later and took the Raiders
to Super Bowl II.
Rauch is given a lot of credit for developing the West Coast offense, which
he taught to a pair of his brightest assistants in Oakland -- John Madden
and Bill Walsh.
"He [Rauch] had a great football mind," Madden told the Athens Banner-Herald
last year. "He knew the nuances of the game to the point where he could
coach any position on the field."
Rauch played high school football in Yeaden, Pa., and as a senior met
Georgia alumnus Harold Hirsch Jr. at a wedding. Hirsch's father was a
longtime Georgia football supporter and sent Rauch a train ticket to Athens
for a tryout, which was permissible back then.
Rauch was playing a game of touch football with some of the Georgia players
when Butts walked up. After watching for about 30 minutes, Butts told Rauch
that if he came to Georgia, he would have a chance to start at quarterback
in his first game.
"Once I was on campus two days, I knew Georgia was the place for me," said
Rauch, who was inducted into UGA's Circle of Honor earlier this year. "I
have never regretted it."
Rauch was one of 13 players inducted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night
at the Waldorf-Astoria. Among others in the class were former Alabama tackle
Billy Neighbors, Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders, Notre Dame
quarterback Joe Theismann and the late Southern California running back
Ricky Bell.
Coaches inducted were Doug thingyey, who spent 15 years at Tennessee and
Florida, and Hayden Fry, who won 232 games at SMU, North Texas State and
Iowa.
By TONY BARNHART
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
New York -- At age 14, John Rauch was told by a doctor that he would have to
give up football because of a heart murmur.
Luckily for the University of Georgia, Rauch got a second opinion. He was
cleared to play, and as a quarterback in Wally Butts' sophisticated passing
attack, Rauch led Georgia to SEC championships in 1946 and 1948. He left
college football with a host of honors and as a head coach took the Oakland
Raiders to the 1967 Super Bowl.
But Rauch's greatest honor in football did not come until Tuesday night,
when he was officially inducted as the 14th Georgia player in the College
Football Hall of Fame.
"This one has been way overdue," said Georgia athletics director Vince
Dooley, who went into the Hall as a coach in 1994. "For a long time Georgia
people have recognized what a great player John Rauch was and how deserving
he was to be in the Hall of Fame. We are proud that it has finally
happened."
"I can't tell you how much this means to me," said Rauch, 73, who lives in
Oldsmar, Fla. "Coach Dooley and a lot the Georgia family have been pulling
for me. I owe this to them."
Rauch has the distinction of starting every single game during his four-year
career with the Bulldogs. Georgia won 36 of the 45 games Rauch started. The
1946 team went 11-0 and was declared national champions. He also was the
first player in college football history to start four consecutive bowl
games.
A three-time All-SEC player, Rauch left Georgia as college football's
all-time leading passer with 4,044 yards. He still ranks third in Georgia
history in career yards-per-completion average (16.05).
Rauch was the first overall pick in the 1949 NFL draft and played four
seasons before beginning his career in coaching. He was an assistant coach
at five colleges, including Georgia, and then joined the staff of the
Oakland Raiders. He became head coach three years later and took the Raiders
to Super Bowl II.
Rauch is given a lot of credit for developing the West Coast offense, which
he taught to a pair of his brightest assistants in Oakland -- John Madden
and Bill Walsh.
"He [Rauch] had a great football mind," Madden told the Athens Banner-Herald
last year. "He knew the nuances of the game to the point where he could
coach any position on the field."
Rauch played high school football in Yeaden, Pa., and as a senior met
Georgia alumnus Harold Hirsch Jr. at a wedding. Hirsch's father was a
longtime Georgia football supporter and sent Rauch a train ticket to Athens
for a tryout, which was permissible back then.
Rauch was playing a game of touch football with some of the Georgia players
when Butts walked up. After watching for about 30 minutes, Butts told Rauch
that if he came to Georgia, he would have a chance to start at quarterback
in his first game.
"Once I was on campus two days, I knew Georgia was the place for me," said
Rauch, who was inducted into UGA's Circle of Honor earlier this year. "I
have never regretted it."
Rauch was one of 13 players inducted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday night
at the Waldorf-Astoria. Among others in the class were former Alabama tackle
Billy Neighbors, Oklahoma State running back Barry Sanders, Notre Dame
quarterback Joe Theismann and the late Southern California running back
Ricky Bell.
Coaches inducted were Doug thingyey, who spent 15 years at Tennessee and
Florida, and Hayden Fry, who won 232 games at SMU, North Texas State and
Iowa.