Vernon Smith (football)

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Vernon "Catfish" Smith (January 14, 1908 – September 29, 1988) played football at the University of Georgia from 1929 to 1931 and was named an All-American in 1931. In 1929, he scored all 15 points for Georgia in an upset of Yale University – scoring one touchdown by falling on a blocked punt in the end zone and another by receiving a pass, kicking an extra point and tacking a Yale player for a safety. Incidentally, the game was played on the day Georgia dedicated Sanford Stadium.

Smith's nickname of "Catfish" is attributed to his eating of one raw and whole as bet while a student at Lanier High School in Macon, Georgia.

After completing his Georgia career as a football player in 1931 (he graduated with a B.S. in 1933), Catfish Smith went into coaching from 1932 to 1941 and coached at Georgia, the University of South Carolina and the University of Mississippi. He then joined the United States Army Air Forces, retiring in 1963 with the rank of colonel.

Smith's sports honors include being inducted in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1966 and in the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979. His military honors included the Legion of Merit, Air Force Commendation Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Air Force Reserve Medal and Air Force Longevity Medal. He was born in Macon and died in California.

[edit] Sources

• Georgia Sports Hall of Fame bio
• College Football Hall of Fame bio
• Charles E. Martin, I've Seen 'Em All: Half Century of Georgia Football, p.57, The McGregor Company, Athens, Georgia, 1961.