Nearly 60 years after a record career, an Oldsmar man makes the college hall of fame.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published December 17, 2003
[Times photos: Libby Volgyes]
John Rauch learned last week of being inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Wearing No. 18 (right), Rauch was on the field for almost every play of his college career.
Rauch's photo of the 1946 Georgia backfield includes, from left, John Donaldson, Dick McPhee, John Rauch and Charley Trippi.
OLDSMAR - There were no shoe contracts or shiny uniforms or computer rankings when John Rauch played quarterback at the University of Georgia.
"Not just quarterback," says Rauch, 76. "I played defense, and I ran down on kickoffs and I caught punts."
Wearing No. 18, Rauch was on the field for virtually every play of his 45-game college career, setting records and winning far more than he lost.
Last week, more than 50 years after he led Georgia to a perfect season and a national championship, Rauch was recognized as the greatest college quarterback of his era.
Retired and living in Oldsmar, Rauch was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in a ceremony in New York City. Alongside him were fellow inductees 1988 Heisman Trophy winner Barry Sanders and former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann.
"I felt like I was on a cloud up there," Rauch said. "It was very touching, and at times, emotional."
At Georgia, Rauch led the Bulldogs to a pair of conference titles as well as an 11-0 record in 1946. In four years, he threw for 4,044 yards, then an NCAA record.
That mark has since been shattered. A BYU quarterback has since passed for more than 15,000 yards in his career and Texas Tech's B.J. Symons threw for 5,336 yards this year alone.
But in his era, Rauch's numbers were impressive. He was selected as the first overall draft pick by the National Football League's Detroit Lions. He later went on to coach the Oakland Raiders for three seasons in the late 1960s, compiling a 33-8-1 record and a trip to Super Bowl II.
After a 12-2 season in 1968, Rauch left Oakland to coach the Buffalo Bills for two seasons.
"I was on the West Coast and I wasn't that happy out there, I elected to come back east," Rauch said. "It turned out to be a mistake for both me and Buffalo."
From there, he bounced around pro football before winding up in Tampa Bay, coaching with the Buccaneers in 1977, their first season. He remained here and even coached a St. Petersburg high school team for one year.
After he heard Admiral Farragut Academy was going to eliminate its football program because the team had no coach, Rauch volunteered.
The team didn't win a game.
"It was the toughest job I ever had in football," he said. "I lined the field, took the uniforms, and did the laundry. I had one assistant and didn't have a secretary. We had some good players, but it was hard."
Last week's ceremony makes Rauch the second person from the same pew at George Young Memorial United Methodist Church to be enshrined in college football's history book.
His good friend Alex Agase, who sits with Rauch on Sunday mornings, was placed in the hall of fame in 1963 after a storied college career of his own.
Agase, now 81 and living in Tarpon Springs, is the only college football player to be named an All-American at two different schools. He split time at Illinois and Purdue around fighting in World War II. He later played pro football for seven years and coached 13 years at Northwestern and Purdue.
Rauch's addition to the hall of fame, located in South Bend, Ind., was long overdue, Agase said.
"They finally got the job done," Agase said. "It doesn't change your life in any way, though. You're still going to pay $1.10 for a cup of coffee. But it's a nice thing to have. They can't take it away."
The third man in the pew is Ty Cogswell. Cogswell, 72, played halfback at the University of Akron. He thought he was pretty good - until he met his church companions.
"I'm glad I kept my mouth shut about how good I thought I was," said Cogswell, who also is Rauch's neighbor. "They would have looked me over real quick. I would be eating crow, that's for sure."
John Rauch learned last week of being inducted into the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. Wearing No. 18 (right), Rauch was on the field for almost every play of his college career.
