The Georgia football family lost one of its greatest players and most colorful characters Thursday as former All-American defensive back Jake Scott passed away.

He was 75.

Scott spent many of his post-football years in Hawaii, but had recently returned to Georgia. He was in Atlanta, where he'd been hospitalized after suffering a fall in which he injured his head.

The SEC’s Most Valuable Player in 1968, according to the Nashville Banner, Scott was one of the leaders of Georgia’s 1967 Liberty Bowl team and also led the Bulldogs to the 1968 SEC championship, which included an undefeated regular season (8-0-2) and an invitation to the Sugar Bowl.

Scott led the SEC in interceptions in 1967 and again in 1968, when he recorded 10. That same year, Scott also led the SEC in punt returns and punt return yardage.

He still holds the SEC record for most interceptions for touchdowns in a single game with two, which came against Kentucky in 1968.

Scott’s 440 yards on 35 returns and 10 interceptions in 1968 both set school records, and he's still tied for the school record for career interceptions with 16. He's second in punt return yards with 315.

Following his career with Georgia, Scott went on to have a wonderful pro career with the Miami Dolphins, earning five straight pro bowl appearances from 1971-75. During his six years with the Dolphins, Scott played in three Super Bowls, and in 1972 was named the MVP of Super Bowl VII.

He finished his pro career by playing three years with Washington, finishing with 42 career interceptions with 13 fumble recoveries.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011 after being inducted into the Dolphins’ Hall of Honor in 2010.

UGASports staff writer and historian Patrick Garbin has written about Scott.

The following is an excerpt from one his articles.

“While at Georgia, Scott once infamously drove his motorcycle up one side of Stegeman Coliseum and down the other. He also decided not to attend a banquet where he was to receive the award for the SEC’s most outstanding player in 1968. As a professional, he was the only rookie player for the Miami Dolphins not asked to sing his school’s fight song, because, “He’s the one guy no one messed with,” according to teammate Manny Fernandez. Former head coach Vince Dooley has also said he has never coached a better athlete than Jake Scott, including Herschel Walker. “The Snake,” Scott’s nickname around UGA’s campus during his playing days, was a first team AP All-SEC selection as a sophomore in 1967, when he intercepted six passes and averaged 11.2 yards on 13 punt returns.

"If there's a better safety man, then somebody has Superman playing for them,” tight end Dennis Hughes said of Scott after Georgia’s victory over Florida in 1968. The following week against Auburn, Scott intercepted two passes, giving him a total of 10 for the season, which broke the school record.

As impressive as Scott’s performance at safety, he finished tied for second in the nation in punt returns with 440 yards in 1968. For his junior season, he was a first-team AP and UPI All-SEC selection, and a consensus All-American. Reportedly, Scott approached coach Vince Dooley at the end of the 1968 season and asked for money to return for his senior season, or he was going to leave school early for the Canadian Football League.

"We weren’t going to do that,” Dooley has said. Those were the days when leaving college early for the professional ranks was unimaginable. Scott did so and bypassed his senior season at Georgia, never to associate himself with the school until agreeing to be an honorary captain for the coin flip before Georgia’s game with Georgia Tech in 2006.

Besides Scott Woerner (1977-1980), Scott is the only player at Georgia to rank in both the top ten in career interceptions and punt return yardage. In addition, his 12.2 career punt return average ranks seventh all time at the school (minimum 25 returns).”

Following his 1969 season in Canada, Scott was selected in the seventh round by the Miami Dolphins in the 1970 NFL Draft. He was an instant success, intercepting five passes and returning a punt for a touchdown as a rookie. For the next five seasons (1971-1975), Scott made the Pro Bowl and was also MVP of the Super Bowl in 1972. For his NFL career, he intercepted 49 passes in nine seasons with Miami and Washington, while averaging 10.4 yards per punt return. He was also the first defensive back in the league to be paid $100,000 in a single year.”