It was mentioned the other day by @RedNBlackNtheDay of Dr. Butch Mulherin’s recent passing at 90 years old. I wanted to follow up and stress how much Dr. Mulherin meant to the Georgia football program, and for so long.
Long before he served for decades as Georgia football’s team orthopedist, Mulherin was a fairly touted, 6-foot-5 end signee out of Richmond Academy in Augusta.
A unique story about Mulherin, who lettered at Georgia in 1952 and 1954 (skipping 1953): After being hampered by ankle injuries throughout his sophomore season at Georgia, he decided to quit football and concentrate more on his pre-med studies.
“Got disenchanted my sophomore year and actually quit [football],” Mulherin said in an interview years later.
Yet, only nine months after Mulherin quit football, you could say he resumed his association with UGA athletics by trying out and making Georgia’s 1954-55 basketball team. Two months later in January 1955, it was announced with some fanfare that Mulherin would return to the Georgia football team for his senior season after missing his junior campaign. That year, he served as the team’s top reserve end.
Mulherin couldn’t stay away from the Georgia football program.
The first orthopedic specialist in Athens, he joined the Bulldogs staff in the mid-1960s under head coach Vince Dooley. One of the first orthopedic surgeons to provide daily care to a college team, traveling to every road game and attending practices, Mulherin served as the team’s orthopedist into the late 1990s.
Long before he served for decades as Georgia football’s team orthopedist, Mulherin was a fairly touted, 6-foot-5 end signee out of Richmond Academy in Augusta.
A unique story about Mulherin, who lettered at Georgia in 1952 and 1954 (skipping 1953): After being hampered by ankle injuries throughout his sophomore season at Georgia, he decided to quit football and concentrate more on his pre-med studies.
“Got disenchanted my sophomore year and actually quit [football],” Mulherin said in an interview years later.
Yet, only nine months after Mulherin quit football, you could say he resumed his association with UGA athletics by trying out and making Georgia’s 1954-55 basketball team. Two months later in January 1955, it was announced with some fanfare that Mulherin would return to the Georgia football team for his senior season after missing his junior campaign. That year, he served as the team’s top reserve end.
Mulherin couldn’t stay away from the Georgia football program.
The first orthopedic specialist in Athens, he joined the Bulldogs staff in the mid-1960s under head coach Vince Dooley. One of the first orthopedic surgeons to provide daily care to a college team, traveling to every road game and attending practices, Mulherin served as the team’s orthopedist into the late 1990s.
