UGASports is counting down the days until the Bulldogs’ 2024 season opener. For each day in our countdown, we will reveal our opinion of the best player in Georgia history to wear that particular jersey number.
With 39 days before kickoff, UGASports selects Mike Castronis as the best Georgia player to wear jersey No. 39.
#39 MIKE CASTRONIS
Position: Lineman
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida (Andrew Jackson HS)
Height/Weight: 5-11, 195
Lettered: 1943-1945
Career: Long before he would be considered as one of the greatest Bulldogs of all time, Mike Castronis’ football career at Georgia nearly didn’t materialize at all. He originally wanted to attend his state school of Florida until the Gators’ head coach, Tom Lieb, indicated Castronis was too small to play for his squad. After a standout season on Georgia’s 1941 freshman team, he had a kidney removed and was said to have “little chance to live.” Yet, wearing a special kidney pad allowing him to play football, Castronis was elected permanent overall captain of the Bulldogs’ 1943 worn-torn team as a mere sophomore and was ultimately recognized as an All-SEC guard. The following season, he was elected alternative captain and recognized as an All-SEC tackle. As a senior tackle in 1945, Castronis became the first Georgia player in history to earn All-SEC honors for three straight seasons. By that time, he was considered one of the best blockers and fiercest tacklers in the South. That season, Castronis was one of just two players from the Southeast selected to the International News Service’s 11-member first-team All-American team. The Detroit Lions selected him in the 1945 NFL Draft.
Notably, beginning in the early 1960s and into the 1980s, “Coach Mike,” as he was simply known, filled a variety of roles at UGA, including head freshman football coach, Health and P.E. instructor, director of intramurals, advisor to UGA cheerleaders, and even creating the first costumed UGA mascot. Until his passing in 1987, Castronis was considered a tremendous supporter of his university, its people, and a leader in the Athens community. Beginning in 1989, UGA bestowed the Mike Castronis Award to the “man who never, never, never gave up the fight.”
#39 Honorable Mention: RB- Kevin McLee (1975-1977); HB/P- Bobby Walden (1958-1960); TB/LB- Ricky Lake (1970-1972)
