Georgia football countdown to kickoff: 40 days to go

The 2018 Georgia football season begins in 40 days.

Georgia football has only retired four jersey’s. No. 34 was retired for Herschel Walker, the greatest running back in college football history. No. 21 was retired for Frank Sinkwich, Georgia’s first Heisman Trophy winner. No. 62 was retired for Charley Trippi, Georgia’s first Maxwell Award winner.

All three had decorated careers with awards and All-American honors. Each are in the College Football Hall of Fame. Trippi is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame under two positions. And all three led the Dawgs to fantastic, historic, championship seasons.

But what about the fourth jersey? That was no. 40 Theron Sapp, two-time All-SEC with 1,265 career rushing yards and six touchdowns. Is that it? No, one of those touchdowns was the deciding score in a 7-0 win over Georgia Tech in 1957. The touchdown that broke the drought and delivered Georgia football their first win over Tech since 1948.

That just goes to show how big the Georgia versus Georgia Tech rivalry is and always has been. Georgia retired the jersey of a player simply for ending an eight-game losing streak.

That’s not say Sapp had an irrelevant career. He did earn All-SEC honors twice. He led Georgia in rushing with 599 yards in 1957 and 635 yards in 1958. For his career, he averaged 4.9 yards per carry. Had Sapp been able to play just one more year, his career really would have been special. But his eligibility expired and he missed out on the 1959 SEC Championship season.

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Georgia isn’t likely to ever retire another jersey. That’s a tradition that many teams see as outdated. So Sapp will always be a member of Georgia football’s most exclusive club. No matter how little he accomplished compared to the legends he shares his distinction with, his membership is something that will never be taken away from.