Good morning! We are down to 38 days in our countdown to kickoff…
This one caught my eye because of where he was from. So, I did a little research. I learned a thing or two. I may be the only one who didn’t know the whole story? Anyway…
In 1971, Horace King, Clarence Pope, Richard Appleby, Larry West and Chuck Kinnebrew became UGA’s “Five Pioneers”, the first black players to sign with and ultimately play varsity football for the Bulldogs. West was from Albany, GA where I worked for 35 years. He went to Albany High, one of the 4 Dougherty County schools that were rivals of my alma mater when I was growing up. West went on to earn his degree from UGA, he played DB, had 5 career interceptions and returned one 75 yards for a TD in 1972.
50 years after they enrolled, “The First Five” were recognized by UGA at the South Carolina football game in 2021. Included in the celebration was a pregame recognition of the five trailblazers on Dooley Field and the unveiling of a monument in Reed Plaza next to Sanford Stadium to mark the milestone event of the integration of the football program.
More photos available at the Albany Herald website.
Go Dawgs!
And for those that don’t know better, it’s pronounced All-Benny. 😉
I flew out of Al-ba-ny, NY last weekend. As a native SOWEGAn, darn right it’s ALL-benny, GA.
This guy was pretty good with the 38:
Hell, yeah, Worley was a thumper and a race horse!!! WOOF!!! Nice call-out
Where’s Richard Appleby in the later picture above? I assume he’s still with us, but can’t find any information about him.
I was curious about that too. According to this, he lives in Hawaii, so I would guess it was just too far to travel. https://www.bulldogsfive.org/our-members