Following a prep career at Tarrant High School near Birmingham in the early 1970s, which remains one of the greatest wide-receiving tenures in the annals of Alabama high school football, Gary “Butch” Box spurned his native state and signed with Georgia. With the Bulldogs from 1973-1976, Box’s career statistics were not distinguished—in fact, seemingly meager: roughly a dozen kickoff returns and a half-dozen punt returns, only six receptions, and just a single touchdown scored. However, if there ever was a stats-don’t-tell-the-entire-story player in the history of Georgia football, it was certainly Butch Box.

Box is arguably the greatest special-teams coverage man ever to don a Georgia uniform. He was so impactful on kick coverage, he was tagged with nicknames—and plenty of them—by coaches, fans, and the media: Wild Card, Captain Crazy, The Joker, and Hit Man. Plus, a newspaper article in 1976 stated that although Butch couldn’t be an official member of Georgia’s “Junkyard Dogs” defensive unit since he didn’t play on defense, Box’s play earned him the recognition as an “honorary member” of the group.

One of the most gracious and humble former-UGA players, yet likely the fieriest and scrappy, tough-as-nails Bulldog of his time, Box lives in Birmingham with his wife of 46 years, Freida. Notably, while attending UGA together in the mid-1970s, the pair were married as only sophomores, whereupon their honeymoon destination was the Bulldogs’ bowl trip in 1974 to Orlando’s Tangerine Bowl.

UGASports caught up with Box from his home:

UGASports: Being from Alabama, how was it that you decided to attend and play football at Georgia?

Box: My girlfriend then—my wife now, Freida—and I wanted to eventually get married, and we just thought Georgia was the best place for us. Back then, you could take more than one visit to a school, so we visited Georgia a number of times, and we just loved it—the people, the campus. Alabama wasn’t but an hour away from my home, and it’s difficult to fully explain, but I just didn’t want to go there. I also visited Ole Miss and Southern Miss, but really didn’t like them. I did find Tennessee nice, and I probably could’ve gone there, but I just loved UGA and Athens—still do!

UGASports: UGA and Athens certainly has that effect on people.

Box: Oh, I could live in Athens! But, my mom and dad, and my kids, live around here (Birmingham). I’ve said before to Freida, “Let’s move to Athens,” but she reminds me that we can’t leave everybody. And, I say, “I know it. I just thought I’d throw that out there.” (laughing) After we graduated from Georgia over 40 years ago, we almost made Athens our home but, because of family, moved back to Birmingham. But, my family, going to Athens, that’s the biggest thing to them—they just love it too. And, you never know, we might come back for good one day.

UGASports: Notably, after freshmen became eligible to play college football in 1972, you were one of the first three Georgia players, along with placekicker Allan Leavitt and receiver Gene Washington, to eventually earn varsity letters in four seasons (1973-74-75-76). What was that like—the then-rarity of playing as a true freshman?

Box: I was a receiver, but I was just 5-foot-9 and Georgia had a lot of great receivers back then. Yet, we didn’t throw the ball a lot—you know that. So, I became mainly involved in a lot of the special teams, which was probably more or less what made my career. At Tennessee that year (early November 1973), I broke my left tibia bone and my roommate, freshman [starting linebacker] Kirk Price, broke his collarbone in the same game. (We’ll add that despite suffering a season-ending injury, Box was kept on the team roster, allowing him to travel with the team—a decision by head coach Vince Dooley which was essentially unheard of at the time for a freshman.)

UGASports: Describe your role on the kickoff coverage unit beginning around 1974.

Box: Coach Russell (defensive coordinator Erk Russell, who had a hand in coaching the special teams) came up with this “Wild Card” slot, which allowed me to line up anywhere along the line on kickoffs. And, I will say, the opponent eventually caught onto it (tracking Box’s positioning), and I took some licks (Butch wouldn’t say it, but opponents began double-teaming him—yes, on kickoff returns). But, when they’d hit me, that left someone else on our team unblocked. It just wasn’t me, though, covering those kickoffs and punts. We weren’t big, but we had speed and a lot of great athletes. And, you know, now that I think about it, I don’t think we ever had a kick ran back on us for a touchdown. (Indeed, of the 149 combined kickoffs and punts returned by Georgia’s opponents from 1974-1976, none were returned for touchdowns. In comparison, in the three-season span from 2011-2013, Georgia’s opponents scored eight touchdowns on kickoffs and punts.)

UGASports: You mentioned “Wild Card.” So, was that name the beginning of all the nicknames you were given?

Box: Yes, I guess so. “The Joker,” like the joker in a deck of cards, kind of came from “Wild Card.” As far as the “Captain Crazy” nickname, that came from somebody in the media because, as you know, you can’t hit the punt returner when he’s calling for a fair catch. So, I started hitting the guy standing right in front of the returner, hoping he would get knocked back into him, and the returner would fumble.

UGASports: What made the coverage unit so good back then? Was it because the players were quick and athletic?

Box: Yes, but I tell you, Coach Russell had something to do with it too. He really fired us up. He’d knock his head against his defensive players’ helmets in pre-game warm-ups. And, when he’d fire us up on coverage, his head might have stopped bleeding, but you could still see the dried blood. Just something about all that really fired us up.

UGASports: Speaking of Coach Russell, many Georgia enthusiasts are familiar with the “Bald Dogs” of 1976 when, beginning with a bad haircut, two players shaved their heads bald. Inspired by the bald Russell, this was followed with around 30 players being bald by the season opener against California. After the fourth game of the season—the Bulldogs’ historic win over Alabama—you even shaved the head of your position coach, Pat Hodgson. What’s the story behind that?

Box: After the players did so before the season started, the coaches started having their heads shaved with each game at the beginning—all victories. After we won the SEC title and beat [Georgia] Tech, as he had promised, even Coach Dooley shaved his head. By the way, I'd like to add that Coach Dooley was a true hero to me.

UGASports: What was your biggest moment as a Georgia football player?

Box: It was that game against Alabama in 1976—a 21-0 win in Athens. Personally, being from Alabama, the game meant a lot to me. But, as a team, I tell you, there was no kind of “one-opponent-at-a-time thing” when it came to Alabama. We were ready to play them from day one—from the very start of the season. And, I don’t think there has ever been a town so fired up for a game—before and after we won—than Athens was for Alabama in 1976. I don’t know how to describe it other than so unbelievable.

UGASports: It was said that, numbering in the thousands, the “Track Fans” (the renowned Bulldog enthusiasts who gathered on and near the railroad tracks overlooking into Sanford Stadium’s east end before it was enclosed in 1981) were out in full force—some more than 24 hours before the game even started—for the Alabama game in ’76. What was your experience with the Track Fans?

Box: Well, first off, everybody knew about the Track Fans. And, as many people they could get up there [on and near the tracks], they’d get up there. The team buses would come in and unload right in front of them at that end of the stadium. Before the buses had even pulled up, they’d be already hollering at you—cheering, calling out names and nicknames. It was pretty awesome. Recently, I looked up at the tracks and I don’t know how all of them fans got up there back then. It looks pretty steep to me. Surely, they had to be more space back then to sit around the tracks because there would be a bunch of people—thousands!

UGASports: The last time we spoke, you said you had been a firefighter for 30 years before deciding to retire but, according to Freida, you “just couldn’t stay still.” So, you started working for Jay Electric Co. (an industrial service and manufacturing business headquartered in Birmingham) where, for a time, you had the responsibility of going down into mines more than 1,500 feet deep and eight miles wide. You still going down into mines?

Box: I still work at the same company, and might try to retire here soon, I guess. But, the mines are shutting down around here, so I haven’t been underground in a while. I go out of town a lot, working on big industrial motors like they have at scrap metal places, some as big as 8,000 horsepower. I build the motors, tear them down, do maintenance on them—whatever is needed.

UGASports: Yet, you still find time to routinely visit Athens, including participating in the lettermen’s flag football game before G-Day in recent years—right?

Box: Well, I’m going to be honest... In recent years, I have played in the lettermen's game, running only about 10 plays; however, I went down [to the field] one year recently and, heck, saw that there were so many young guys. I wound up just heading back upstairs off the field and over to the [lettermen’s] barbeque across the street that they have every year (laughing). Still, I’ll keep coming back to play in the flag football game until I’m unable to do so.

UGASports: Please tell me about your family.

Box: We’re a real close family. Freida and I have two daughters, Fran and Beth. Our oldest is our son, Jody. He is a fireman, a lieutenant. Jody is married to Lorie, and they have a daughter, Ashlyn. We’re really involved with our granddaughter.

UGASports: Being a Georgia fan living in Alabama, I think it’s fair to ask you about Kirby Smart. What do you think of the Bulldogs’ head coach?

Box: I think he’s an excellent coach. The few Georgia fans I know over here, we have agreed for some time that he’d eventually be going back to Georgia—or, at least, we were hoping he would be anyway—whenever that time came. And, believe me, I have nothing against Coach Richt. But, that G-Day crowd in 2016 was so impressive, and a lot of that is because of Coach Smart. They said even our lettermen’s BBQ that year had about three times the number of people than what was normally there. Anyway, since Coach Smart’s arrival, we’ve been excited over here—what few Georgia fans we got (laughing).

UGASports: Speaking of, how is it to be a former standout Georgia player, and a big Georgia fan, but living in Birmingham?

Box: Well, you know, I haven’t played in more than 40 years. And, I’m just an ole working guy who is just honored to still be associated with the Georgia football program. I love my Dogs! Only a few people around here even know I played at Georgia. A couple of them have asked me before, “How come you didn’t go to Alabama?” Well, I say, “I could have gone to Alabama. But, I went to Georgia.” And, I’m a big Georgia fan—and always will be. It can be tough here living in Birmingham surrounded by Alabama fans, except an Auburn fan here and there, hearing about Alabama winning. That’s all I seem to hear. Of course, they do have something to brag about. But, Coach Smart has brought Georgia back to “winning”—and I think we’re here to stay for at least a while.