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Catching Up With... DICK CONN

Born in Louisville, Ky., before moving to Atlanta as a youngster, Dick Conn of Lakeside High School was considered one of the greatest receivers ever to come out of the state of Georgia. Still, upon his arrival at UGA, Conn promptly moved positions—and continued to do so—before settling in the Bulldogs’ secondary. Before finally becoming a full-time starter as a senior, he totaled a team-high five interceptions as a junior reserve in 1972, marking the only season in Georgia football history that a player not considered a “starter” led the team in annual interceptions.

Conn went on to play six seasons in the NFL, including for the Super Bowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers in 1974 as a mere rookie, before successfully working in memorabilia sales. From Spartanburg, S.C., UGASports.com recently caught up with Dick Conn, a standout defensive back for the Bulldogs in the early ‘70s, who went from the Toilet Bowl—five of them—to the Super Bowl:

No. 22 Dick Conn (L to R): With the Pittsburgh Steelers as an NFL rookie in 1974; breaks up a pass in 1972 vs. Georgia Tech; at a recent G-Day lettermen’s flag football game.
No. 22 Dick Conn (L to R): With the Pittsburgh Steelers as an NFL rookie in 1974; breaks up a pass in 1972 vs. Georgia Tech; at a recent G-Day lettermen’s flag football game.
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UGASports: Dick, you were rather highly recruited coming out of Lakeside in Atlanta (Conn’s 1,326 receiving yards as a senior in 1968 was a single-season state record). Tell me a little about your recruiting process.

Conn: Starting all the way back in elementary school, I ran around with my good friend, Nick Carmichael. We were known as “Nick and Dick,” and we played baseball together, ran track, and played football. Well, we started to get recruited together, including by Clemson as early as our freshman year at Lakeside High School. We were recruited by a lot of schools and made a bunch of trips. I think Nick’s were probably the same as mine, but the final three schools I considered were Tennessee, Auburn, and Georgia.

UGASports: Specifically, how did Georgia recruit you?

Conn: I got a call one day from Coach Russell (then-defensive coordinator Erk Russell), who was the main guy from Georgia recruiting me at the time. He told me that since they had just won the SEC [in 1968], they had already put together a really good recruiting class—and he only had one more scholarship left to give. Coach Russell needed to know what I wanted to do. I asked him, “What about Nick?” He replied, “Well, [depending on your answer], he’s my next call.” So, I pretty much had to make a decision right there, which I did. And, Nick wound up going to Tennessee.

UGASports: And, why did you ultimately decide on Georgia?

Conn: It was Coach Russell, mainly—and Alan Chadwick, some. I played against Alan in high school (Chadwick was a star quarterback at nearby Decatur High School), and I really wanted him to go to Georgia. His girlfriend convinced him to go to Georgia because he’d be throwing all these passes to me, and we’d break all these records. So, despite Alan having brothers who played at Tennessee, he signed with Georgia. Well, the next thing we knew, instead of breaking records, I was put at running back, and he was put at receiver. Then, I was suddenly playing on defense, while Alan had transferred—to East Tennessee State where he was instead breaking records there. (At ETSU, quarterback Alan Chadwick was the Ohio Valley Conference’s Player of the Year in 1973. He has since become one of the most distinguished figures in Georgia high school football history, as the long-time head coach at Marist School in Atlanta.)

UGASports: From your time as a record-breaking receiver in high school, you took an unconventional route to being a defensive back in college, huh?

Conn: I don’t know what Georgia had planned for me, as they even had me working on the defensive line at one point. Looking back on it, they may have been trying to run me off (laughing). After my freshman year, I red-shirted in 1970. Then, I worked at offensive tackle, defensive tackle, defensive end—the way I got moved [to defensive back], what I thought was the wrong colored jersey was one day in my locker. I went storming up to Coach Russell’s office. I was sick of all the moving around, and was ranting and raving how I came to Georgia to catch passes. Coach Russell was great about sitting and listening while never raising his voice. He calmly asked me, “Are you finished?” This was back when Georgia hardly threw the ball whether we needed to or not. He then said, “You came here to catch passes? Well, you’re going to catch a hell of a lot more on this side (defense) than the other side (offense).”

UGASports: You began starting some games as a junior in 1972, including a memorable performance against Ole Miss on the road. (In a 14-13 win, Conn’s outing included intercepting a key pass, returning a punt which set up a score, and blocking a PAT.) What do you remember about your performance versus the Rebels?

Conn: After a few games that season, I made my first start at safety against Alabama. We then played Ole Miss in Jackson (Miss.). The man I covered was All-SEC Butch Veazey, a big tight end. He didn’t have a good game, while I had a pretty good game. (Veazy, who had approximately 40 percent of the Rebels’ total receiving yards in 1972, was on the receiving end of just 19 of 151 passing yards against Georgia/Conn.) Coach [Vince] Dooley put me on his TV show the next day, so I must have done something right. I wound up starting the next three games after the win over Ole Miss.

UGASports: So, you started five games in a row before being a reserve again?

Conn: On a particular pass play against Tennessee, I let my man get open under me for about a 13-yard gain on third and 14. Although they didn’t get the first down, apparently, that play upset defensive backs coach Jim Pyburn. I didn’t start the rest of the season. Coach Pyburn and I didn’t always see eye to eye. Georgia doesn’t have it anymore, but we used to play an annual [intrasquad] game called the “Toilet Bowl,” where the true freshmen played the B-team or the scout team. Beginning with my true freshman year of 1969 through my redshirt senior year (1973), I played in the Toilet Bowl—which was unheard of, no player did that. In fact, I guarantee, I’m the only guy who started in five straight Toilet Bowls (laughing). Even in 1973, Coach Pyburn thought I needed some “tackling practice,” so I was demoted to the scout team, and wound up playing in that game as a redshirt senior.

UGASports: How did you finally become a full-time starter in 1973? And, what stands out to you about the Tennessee game that season (Conn’s performance in an upset over the Vols included an open-field tackle on third down, just prior to Tennessee electing to run an infamous fake punt on fourth down, which Georgia stopped—see video), and the Peach Bowl against Maryland (Conn recovered two fumbles in a 17-16 upset victory over the Terrapins—see video)?

Conn: From the ’72 season, we returned three safeties in the defensive secondary—no cornerbacks. Since I was the fastest of the safeties, I was moved to one of the corner spots. For me, something kind of interesting about the Tennessee game in 1973 is my friend, Nick, had played running back at Lakeside, while I had been a receiver. However, in Knoxville as seniors in college, we were both starting at the same position—right cornerback—for opposite teams. As far as the Peach Bowl, my dad had gotten sick several years before, when I was a freshman at Georgia, so my parents moved back to Kentucky and could hardly come to any of my games. Living in Kentucky, they’d drive as far down the road in their car until they could pick up the Georgia game on the radio just to hear me play. But, for my last game at Georgia in the Peach Bowl, my parents actually got to come to the game in Atlanta.

UGASports: Despite not being drafted, you wound up making an NFL team, right?

Conn: Before the NFL Draft, there had been some interest in me from professional teams. So, when I went undrafted, Coach [Bud] Carson (then-defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers) reached out to me. Coach Carson had been the head coach at Georgia Tech, and once tried to recruit me there—but there was no way I was going to Georgia Tech, so I ignored him then. Yet several years later, he was the only reason I got a shot with Pittsburgh.

UGASports: How exactly were you signed as a free agent—what was the process?

Conn: Ed Allen, who was a little older than me and actually wore No. 22 for Georgia just before I did, was a young lawyer in Athens by this time, and he became my representation. The Steelers offered me a little signing money and so much for a one-year contract—and Ed said, “No.” In shock, I thought it had all sounded good. Well, Ed winds up negotiating me a three-year deal with more annual money and twice the signing bonus. At the time, I hardly had any money—but I worked at a liquor store in Athens. So, my “payment” to Ed for representing me was a fifth of Chivas Regal (scotch). I played in the NFL my rookie year with the Steelers, and we wound up winning the Super Bowl (vs. Minnesota in Super Bowl IX).

UGASports: After a season with the Steelers, you start playing with New England, where you were teammates with the late Andy Johnson, just like you had been at Georgia.

Conn: Andy and I were great friends, and we truly had a unique friendship. In 1975, the NFL reduced its rosters (from 47 to 43 players), and I got let go by Pittsburgh in the final round of cuts. I wound up going to the World League for a little bit and played with Jacksonville. (For the Jacksonville Express in 1975 of the since-defunct WFL, Conn led the team in interceptions, despite appearing in less than half the Express’ games.) I think Andy, all along while I was in Jacksonville, was talking me up to the special teams coach for the New England Patriots. Andy is really the reason I got a second chance at the NFL, as he talked New England into signing me. I wound up being with the Patriots for five years. You know, I’m proud to say that Andy Johnson was on the field with me for my last football game in high school (Johnson quarterbacked Athens High to a win over Lakeside in 1968—Conn’s final game in high school), my last game at Georgia (1973 Peach Bowl), and my last game in the pros (Patriots in 1979).

UGASports: Do you still keep up with your old teammates?

Conn: I’m really lucky, because there is and has always been great camaraderie among my freshman class of ’69 at Georgia—guys like Jim “Duck” Curington, Mac McWhorter, Chris “Hawg” Hammond, J.J. Jackson, Robert “Burly” Honeycutt, just to name only a few. In fact, even today, we still might be the program’s most active, representative freshman football class. Well, kind of the same thing goes for my rookie class in the NFL—a class, I’ll add, has to be the best ever in the history of the NFL. That class has had four players (Jack Lambert, Lynn Swann, Mike Webster, and John Stallworth), so far, inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. (In addition, Donnie Shell, a defensive back for the Steelers from 1974-1987, has on multiple occasions been a semifinalist on the Hall of Fame ballot.) We’re all still good friends. We go to one another’s charity golf tournaments, and the like. I always go to Stallworth’s tournament. Shell has a tournament I go to. I used to have my own golf tournament for the March of Dimes, which they’d all come to. And, with New England, I’ve developed some lifelong friends from the great experience I had there, as well.

UGASports: What happened after your tenure with the Patriots?

Conn: I was a free agent and was hoping to work my way back home by signing with the Atlanta Falcons. Well, I had injured my neck and couldn’t pass the physical. My brother started talking to me about Jostens, a company that produces championship rings, class rings, graduation supplies, and such. My family and I packed up and moved to Spartanburg, S.C., in 1981 so I could work for Jostens—and I’m still with them.

“Andy is really the reason I got a second chance at the NFL, as he talked New England into signing me. … You know, I’m proud to say that Andy Johnson was on the field with me for my last football game in high school, my last game at Georgia, and my last game in the pros.”
— Dick Conn

UGASports: Please tell me about your family.

Conn: Right after the Super Bowl, I married my wife, Sharon. She had been a Georgette in the band, and one of the first Georgia Girls under Coach [Mike] Castronis who helped out in recruiting. We’ve been married 44 years and have four children. Our oldest, Travis, played football at Gardner-Webb and also lives in Spartanburg and works for Jostens. He's married to Christy with two sons—Colt and Cade. Molly, our daughter, is in real estate and lives in Charleston. She's married to John, and they have one son, Eason. Our son, Matt, a lawyer in Birmingham, Ala., is married to Elizabeth, and they with two sons—David and James. And, our youngest, Andy, is also a lawyer, who lives in Savannah and just got married to Alex.

UGASports: I recently heard that you could be considered one of the “founding fathers” of UGA football’s lettermen’s club. How is that?

Conn: Well, yeah, I guess you could say that for me and a Georgia teammate of mine, Robert Honeycutt (starting fullback, 1970-1972). Around the time I moved to South Carolina in 1981, Robert and I organized going back to games and tailgating with football lettermen. Upon Coach Dooley’s request, we became more of a club. We then started having meetings, and we started going around to other lettermen clubs to see how they ran things. We then started hosting golf tournaments and things like that. Since I’m not local—don’t live near Athens—I have never been an officer, but I’ve served on the club’s board since Day One. We’ve been parking over in the graveyard near the stadium for games for over 20 years—and we’re now one of the more active lettermen clubs in college football. Other lettermen clubs now visit us to see how we run things…

UGASports: Speaking of Coach Dooley, in brief, describe him when he was your head coach.

Conn: Always the organizer. Whereas Coach Russell was there more for moral support, Coach Dooley was the no-nonsense organizer who kept everything afloat, even if times ever got difficult. Yet, while keeping everything afloat, Coach Dooley still maintained being such a good man who absolutely everyone respected.

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