The Day the Butler Did It

On a warm September Saturday afternoon, the 1984 Georgia Bulldogs hosted their nearby rivals, the Clemson Tigers, the #2 ranked team in the country.  Clemson featured mammoth defensive lineman William "The Refrigerator" Perry.  A brand new UGA student, I took my seat around the 50 yard line in the student section.

I had not yet mastered the art of sneaking an entire fifth of rum into Sanford Stadium, so I was sober and a little sunburnt as the game drew near its close.  With the game tied, Georgia's offense at the Clemson 43, and only seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Coach Vince Dooley sent placekicker Kevin Butler out to try a 60 yard field goal. 

From my midfield seat, I could see every foot of those 60 yards and how narrow the goal posts looked from that distance.  "It's just too far," I and several of my friends around me murmured.

We watched with interest and then with awe as the kick carried and carried and carried, and then the officials ran out from behind the goal posts, their hands held high. The kick was good!

The stadium erupted.  The late humorist, my cousin Lewis Grizzard, used his next column to address a hypothetical son and explain how he came to be named Kevin.

Now comes the part UGA fans whisper, at the loudest, amongst ourselves.  Clemson had a Nigerian-born kicker with the unlikely name Donald Amechi Igwebuike whose range extended well beyond 50 yards.  Georgia had to kick off to Clemson, and the Tigers returned the ball into Georgia territory, setting up a potential tying field goal.  The last couple of seconds mysteriously melted from the game clock, however, and the Dawgs celebrated their victory.  We dreamt of another national title.

A year later, Kevin Butler and "The Fridge" joined each other on Coach Mike Ditka's Chicago Bears, who brought Chicago its lone Super Bowl Championship.  A Falcons fan even in those leanest of years, I rooted against Chicago and, it only followed, against Butler.

For that one Saturday, however, I relished in having witnessed what remains one of college football's most memorable field goals.  Far back in my memory, the ball is still sailing, Georgia's improbable victory still only a few yards and seconds away, and my own youthful sense of wonder still ever so slightly within my grasp.