Today the Georgia Bulldog in the spotlight is by request from a DGD I've known for quite some time now…..It’s sort of a “thank-you” from him to a long time friend, a former Dawg football player named Jerry Varnado……Shine the spotlight brightly today on Jerry Varnado, a three year defensive end starter for Erk Russell’s defensive hounds when Joel Eaves, Vince Dooley, and a few others were busy returning football at UGA to its winning ways of the 1940s……This salute to Varnado is not focused on his football heroics, but rather a short summation of his remarkable life after UGA football and family tragedy………
Jerry Varnado was the victim of a father’s worst nightmare……His pain and suffering were compounded by another significant heartache that put his life in a downhill spiral and took him the very edge of the “deep end”………But Varnado made the most successful turn in his life to overcome the pain of the past……
The following is from a DGD and a friend of Jerry Varnado (I can’t express this short summation of Varnado any better):
“Jerry Varnado was a starting defensive end on Vince Dooley's first teams and a fine player. Jerry stayed on as a graduate assistant while attending law school. Jerry then joined the law firm of Fortson, Bentley, and Griffin, the most prominent and connected firm in Athens where he practiced law for over a decade.”
“Jerry was married and had a child who died tragically in a residential elevator accident. This, understandably, rocked Jerry Varnado. He became a troubled man, divorced, left his law practice and went to seminary school.”
“Jerry then returned to Athens and became a pastor at Boggs Chapel Methodist Church which was a tiny church in the country out past Athens Country Club.”
“We started attending services at Boggs Chapel because of Jerry. Golly, the man could preach. The only thing he did better was be a good guy and a friend. His church, and his new life flourished. Jerry lost a child but ended up saving many, many souls.”
Varnado was a pretty daggone good football player growing up……He had to be….He played for Valdosta High School…..Once again, he had to be…..He played for the man, Wright Bazemore….
He went from Valdosta High School to the University of Georgia, starting his career under Coach Johnny Griffith and finishing his career under Vince Dooley…..He earned three letters of varsity football (1964, 1965, and 1966)…..And BTW, he was the starter at DE for the Dawgs those three years too……
He was part of that 1966 SEC Championship team that accepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl, and left Dallas a big winner……A dawggone solid football career…as a maturing athlete approaching adulthood, Varnado started for three different coaches including two Hall of Fame Coaches (Bazemore and Dooley)……
1966 Florida Game Captain Jerry Varnado about to sack Steve Spurrier
After his undergraduate UGA degree, he became a Graduate Assistant for Dooley while continuing his education and attaining his post graduate degree at UGA……
He got a job in Athens…a good job……He was a lawyer in the town he loved……Then came a series of events that would destroy most men, and it almost did to Jerry Varnado……
He lost a child in a freak accident…..That hurts a little to even write that…..I’m sure it hurts a little to even read that…..Imagine the pain if you were Jerry Varnado that day, or the days that followed, burying your child….That’s not the way it’s supposed to happen….Then came the divorce and giving up a decade of law practice……
He stared rock bottom square in the eyes…..But he didn’t go there….Instead he made a decision to start over, because the good Lord called him….
Back to school, this time the Candler School of Theology, a 45 year old graduate on a mission to serve the Lord….Folks, you just don’t see all that many ex-football players preaching the gospel, and you sure as heck don’t see that many ex-lawyers turned pastor……
My good friend said, “Jerry lost a child but ended up saving many, many souls.”
What a compliment that is to Jerry Varnado…..The man has saved many, many souls over the past 35 years….As a minister, Jerry has seen it all…..the happy times, the sad times, and everything in between……sort of like his life…..He’s comforted others in troubled times when he knows all about troubled times…….
Jerry Varnado, from triumph, to tragedy, back to triumph……It’s another sad story that ends happy…..But all the happiness in the end does not eliminate the sadness along the way, and all the sadness along the way does not eliminate the happiness in the end……
My friend thought Jerry's story should be told……So did I, and he told it better than I could…..But after hearing the Varnado story from my friend, I wanted to be part of saluting Jerry Varnado today…….He’s been ripped and torn and down and nearly out, but he got up off his knees in a much bigger game than football and met with success and happiness again in life, all while helping others…..
Jerry Varnado is a Man of God…..Jerry Varnado is also a DGD……..I want to meet him and just shake his hand one day in the future……I just think I'll be a better man for it..……
Jerry Varnado is known as “One Old Dawg” and he has his own website……It’ll do you good to read it……
http://oneolddawg.blogspot.com/
Georgia Football……He loves it…..He will talk about the football Dawgs as long as you wish……
What a happy photo…Varnado (88), Patton (76), and Stanfill (77) put he pressure on Steve Spurrier….
An even happier photo: Varnado (#88) and Dickie Phillips (#50) sacking Steve Spurrier
Jerry Varnado is a very popular people person as you can tell from the following photographs……Enjoy the Photo Gallery of Jerry Varnado with his fellow teammates, bonded friends for life…..
(L-R) Jerry’s wife, Vince, and Jerry
(L-R) Billy Payne and Jerry Varnado
Frank Lankewicz first seat and Ray Rismiller second seat
(L-R) Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, Pat Hodgson
(L-R) Dickie Phillips, Anthony Dennard, Randy Wheeler, Pat Hodgson, Wayne Brantley, Marvin Hurst, Duncan Newkirk
(L-R) Jerry Varnado, Wayne Brantley, George Patton, Frank Lankewicz, Randy Wheeler
(L-R) Wayne Ingle, Terry Osbolt, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Larry Kohn, Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Happy Dicks and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) “General” George Patton, Vince Dooley, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Jerry Varnado and Tommy Lawhorne
Top Photo (L-R) Jerry Varnado and Larry Kohn
Bottom Photo (L-R) Jerry Varnado and Ronnie Jenkins
From top left clockwise (each pictured with Jerry Varnado): Charley Whittemore, George Patton, Bob Etter, Dr. Tommy Lawhorn, Mack Faircloth, Vance Evans
(L-R) Joel Darden, John Glass, George Patton, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Jerry Varnado, Brad Johnson, Paul Handmacher
(L-R) Jerry Varnado with his former roommate Fred Barber and his wife Julie
Read here his blog comments on Vince Dooley and the 50 year re-union of Dooley’s first team at UGA…..
http://oneolddawg.blogspot.com/2014/09/one-old-dawg-on-fifty-years-and-his.html
There are several other of his Dawg blogs that are informative, entertaining, and most of all, reminiscing……Do the links on the right side of his blog…..
Jerry Varnado was the victim of a father’s worst nightmare……His pain and suffering were compounded by another significant heartache that put his life in a downhill spiral and took him the very edge of the “deep end”………But Varnado made the most successful turn in his life to overcome the pain of the past……
The following is from a DGD and a friend of Jerry Varnado (I can’t express this short summation of Varnado any better):
“Jerry Varnado was a starting defensive end on Vince Dooley's first teams and a fine player. Jerry stayed on as a graduate assistant while attending law school. Jerry then joined the law firm of Fortson, Bentley, and Griffin, the most prominent and connected firm in Athens where he practiced law for over a decade.”
“Jerry was married and had a child who died tragically in a residential elevator accident. This, understandably, rocked Jerry Varnado. He became a troubled man, divorced, left his law practice and went to seminary school.”
“Jerry then returned to Athens and became a pastor at Boggs Chapel Methodist Church which was a tiny church in the country out past Athens Country Club.”
“We started attending services at Boggs Chapel because of Jerry. Golly, the man could preach. The only thing he did better was be a good guy and a friend. His church, and his new life flourished. Jerry lost a child but ended up saving many, many souls.”
Varnado was a pretty daggone good football player growing up……He had to be….He played for Valdosta High School…..Once again, he had to be…..He played for the man, Wright Bazemore….
He went from Valdosta High School to the University of Georgia, starting his career under Coach Johnny Griffith and finishing his career under Vince Dooley…..He earned three letters of varsity football (1964, 1965, and 1966)…..And BTW, he was the starter at DE for the Dawgs those three years too……
He was part of that 1966 SEC Championship team that accepted a bid to the Cotton Bowl, and left Dallas a big winner……A dawggone solid football career…as a maturing athlete approaching adulthood, Varnado started for three different coaches including two Hall of Fame Coaches (Bazemore and Dooley)……
1966 Florida Game Captain Jerry Varnado about to sack Steve Spurrier
After his undergraduate UGA degree, he became a Graduate Assistant for Dooley while continuing his education and attaining his post graduate degree at UGA……
He got a job in Athens…a good job……He was a lawyer in the town he loved……Then came a series of events that would destroy most men, and it almost did to Jerry Varnado……
He lost a child in a freak accident…..That hurts a little to even write that…..I’m sure it hurts a little to even read that…..Imagine the pain if you were Jerry Varnado that day, or the days that followed, burying your child….That’s not the way it’s supposed to happen….Then came the divorce and giving up a decade of law practice……
He stared rock bottom square in the eyes…..But he didn’t go there….Instead he made a decision to start over, because the good Lord called him….
Back to school, this time the Candler School of Theology, a 45 year old graduate on a mission to serve the Lord….Folks, you just don’t see all that many ex-football players preaching the gospel, and you sure as heck don’t see that many ex-lawyers turned pastor……
My good friend said, “Jerry lost a child but ended up saving many, many souls.”
What a compliment that is to Jerry Varnado…..The man has saved many, many souls over the past 35 years….As a minister, Jerry has seen it all…..the happy times, the sad times, and everything in between……sort of like his life…..He’s comforted others in troubled times when he knows all about troubled times…….
Jerry Varnado, from triumph, to tragedy, back to triumph……It’s another sad story that ends happy…..But all the happiness in the end does not eliminate the sadness along the way, and all the sadness along the way does not eliminate the happiness in the end……
My friend thought Jerry's story should be told……So did I, and he told it better than I could…..But after hearing the Varnado story from my friend, I wanted to be part of saluting Jerry Varnado today…….He’s been ripped and torn and down and nearly out, but he got up off his knees in a much bigger game than football and met with success and happiness again in life, all while helping others…..
Jerry Varnado is a Man of God…..Jerry Varnado is also a DGD……..I want to meet him and just shake his hand one day in the future……I just think I'll be a better man for it..……
Jerry Varnado is known as “One Old Dawg” and he has his own website……It’ll do you good to read it……
http://oneolddawg.blogspot.com/
Georgia Football……He loves it…..He will talk about the football Dawgs as long as you wish……
What a happy photo…Varnado (88), Patton (76), and Stanfill (77) put he pressure on Steve Spurrier….
An even happier photo: Varnado (#88) and Dickie Phillips (#50) sacking Steve Spurrier
Jerry Varnado is a very popular people person as you can tell from the following photographs……Enjoy the Photo Gallery of Jerry Varnado with his fellow teammates, bonded friends for life…..
(L-R) Jerry’s wife, Vince, and Jerry
(L-R) Billy Payne and Jerry Varnado
Frank Lankewicz first seat and Ray Rismiller second seat
(L-R) Preston Ridlehuber, George Nowicki, Jerry Varnado, Pat Hodgson
(L-R) Dickie Phillips, Anthony Dennard, Randy Wheeler, Pat Hodgson, Wayne Brantley, Marvin Hurst, Duncan Newkirk
(L-R) Jerry Varnado, Wayne Brantley, George Patton, Frank Lankewicz, Randy Wheeler
(L-R) Wayne Ingle, Terry Osbolt, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Larry Kohn, Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Happy Dicks and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) “General” George Patton, Vince Dooley, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Jerry Varnado and Tommy Lawhorne
Top Photo (L-R) Jerry Varnado and Larry Kohn
Bottom Photo (L-R) Jerry Varnado and Ronnie Jenkins
From top left clockwise (each pictured with Jerry Varnado): Charley Whittemore, George Patton, Bob Etter, Dr. Tommy Lawhorn, Mack Faircloth, Vance Evans
(L-R) Joel Darden, John Glass, George Patton, and Jerry Varnado
(L-R) Jerry Varnado, Brad Johnson, Paul Handmacher
(L-R) Jerry Varnado with his former roommate Fred Barber and his wife Julie
Read here his blog comments on Vince Dooley and the 50 year re-union of Dooley’s first team at UGA…..
http://oneolddawg.blogspot.com/2014/09/one-old-dawg-on-fifty-years-and-his.html
There are several other of his Dawg blogs that are informative, entertaining, and most of all, reminiscing……Do the links on the right side of his blog…..
