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 41 days before kickoff, UGASports selects George Poschner as the best Georgia player to wear jersey number 41.
#41 GEORGE POSCHNER
Position: End
Hometown: Youngstown, Ohio (Chaney HS)
Height/Weight: 6-0, 185
Lettered: 1940-1942
Career: A former all-city end at Chaney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, George Poschner came to Georgia only because his boyhood friend, Frank Sinkwich, refused to come to UGA unless Poschner was also given a scholarship. Poschner, who was a year older and had graduated the year before, was working in a meat and produce market at the time. Nevertheless, soon after his arrival in Athens, Poschner was recognized for his fierce competitiveness, stellar play on defense, and ability to block downfield from his end position. After starring on Georgia’s famed “Point-A-Minute” freshman team of 1939, he was considered one of the top sophomores in the SEC in 1940 as the Bulldogs’ starting left end. At the same time, Poschner was a starting forward on Georgia’s basketball team—the only starting sophomore on the squad. A primary receiving target by the time he was a junior, Poschner made two touchdown receptions and earned All-SEC honors in 1941 despite playing with a broken arm for half the season. As a senior on Georgia’s national title team of 1942, he ranked ninth in the nation in receiving with 24 catches for 493 yards and five touchdowns. He also scored a touchdown by recovering a fumble in the end zone. Against third-ranked Alabama that season, Poschner caught two touchdown passes from Sinkwich, played a stellar defensive game, and was a primary reason for the Bulldogs’ 21–10 win—one of the biggest victories in school history. The following week, the three touchdowns he caught against Florida still remain (tied) for the most single-game touchdown receptions by an individual in school history. For his efforts in 1942, Poschner was recognized as a first-team All-American by Look magazine and a second-team All-American by the Associated Press.
Notably, serving as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War II, Poschner was severely injured in the Battle of the Bulge. He was the recipient of a Bronze Star, the Purple Heart, and the Distinguished Service Cross.
#41 Honorable Mention: LB- Channing Tindall (2018-2021); DE- Pat McShea (1978-1980); PK- Hap Hines (1996-1999); FB- Jeremy Thomas (2003-2004)
After trailing 10-0 in the fourth quarter against Alabama in 1942, Georgia's George Poschner made two touchdown receptions as the No. 2 -ranked Bulldogs ultimately topped the No. 3-ranked Crimson Tide:
