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.
We select Kevin Butler as the best Georgia player to wear jersey number 5
#5 KEVIN BUTLER
Position: Placekicker
Hometown (High School): Stone Mountain, Georgia (Redan HS)
Height/Weight: 6-1, 190
Lettered: 1981-1984
Stats: 77 of 98 on field goals (78.6%) and 122 of 125 on PATs (97.6%) for 353 points in four seasons.
Career: Not your typical placekicker, Kevin Butler was a versatile athlete out of Redan High School who signed with Georgia in 1981 replacing All-American, and the team’s preceding No. 5, Rex Robinson. Essentially, from the beginning, Butler established himself as one of football’s top placekickers and, ultimately, arguably the greatest placekicker in college football history. He earned All-SEC honors for each of his four seasons from 1981-1984, including first-team honors three times. To date, Butler remains one of only nine Georgia football players in history to earn first-team all-conference honors in three or more seasons. He was recognized as a first-team All-American as both a junior and senior. Butler made 52.4 percent (11 of 21) of his field goals from 50+ yards when only approximately one-third of 50+ yard field goals were successful in all of major-college football during his time. He still has made three of the five longest field goals in Bulldog history, including a program-long of 60 yards which defeated second-ranked Clemson in 1984. Butler’s 353 career points were an SEC record for 14 years and a school record for nearly two decades until broken by Billy Bennett. Butler’s 27 career games having made two or more field goals remains tied (with Bennett) for an NCAA record. Selected by the Chicago Bears in the fourth round, he was the No. 105 overall pick of the 1985 NFL Draft. In 2001, Butler became the first placekicker ever to be elected to the College Football Hall of Fame.
#5 Honorable Mention: RB- Garrison Hearst (1990-1992); PK- Rex Robinson (1977-1980); DB- Kelee Ringo (2021-2022); DB/WR- Jermaine Phillips (1998-2001); WR- Terry Godwin (2015-2018); DB- Damian Swann (2011-2014); PK- Steve Crumley (1985-1988)
