A Quiet Competitor

Campus life can be a very good life, and love of alma mater can lead to lifelong commitment to the institution.

Lucius Sanford, executive director of the Letterwinner Association at Georgia Tech, is an example of the many college faculty members and employees who are homegrown, and who eventually return to campus and find a way to stay put.

Born in Milledgeville, Sanford attended high school in Atlanta and graduated from Tech in 1978. Following a 10-year career in the National Football League and a nine-year stint in the financial services industry, he joined the Georgia Tech Athletic Association staff in 1998 as director of student life. He has been a fixture with the Yellow Jackets ever since.

Lucius Sanford, Jr. Photo credit: Georgia Sports Hall of Fame

Sanford played at West Fulton High School and was recruited to Georgia Tech by Coach Pepper Rodgers. He was a four-year starter at linebacker and a first team All-American player for the Jackets and is considered one of the greatest defenders in school history. A quiet man – except on the gridiron where he rattled a lot of offensive bones – Sanford also was an All-South independent selection three times.

As a freshman in 1974, he started the season opener against No. 2 Notre Dame and made 14 tackles. He registered 124 tackles that year, which still stands as a Tech freshman record. By the end of his senior year at Tech, he was the career leader in tackles (433) and still ranks high in that category in school history.

Sanford received his bachelor’s degree in industrial management in 1978 and was immediately drafted by the Buffalo Bills, playing there for nine seasons. He spent his last year in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns.

A rugged linebacker at 6 feet 2 inches and 216 pounds, he had great range on the football field, making tackles from everywhere. He loved the game and was one of those eager competitors who was so enamored with football that he couldn’t wait for practice to begin.

“It was as if football was created for him,” says Bill Curry, former Tech head coach who played nine years in the NFL as a center. “Offenses better be prepared if they chose to run his way.”

Curry, who was an assistant coach at Tech in 1976, got to know Sanford and took a liking to him, realizing that underneath his outward demeanor there was a serious competitor who wanted to excel on the football field and in life.

In 1985, Sanford was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, and in 2001 he received the same honor from the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon.

He was a player who quietly but consistently made key plays for his team, keeping the other team’s offense at bay without taunting or excessive celebration after a big stop. Even today, Sanford is not someone described as being outspoken or given to self-promotion.

“He was very reserved and when he got to the point that he felt that he could trust me, he began to open up a little,” says Curry, who is now one of Sanford’s closest friends.

“We would take walks and talk about football and life. I earned his trust as we talked about blocking schemes. As a long-time NFLer, I was reacclimating to the college game. So he, in fact, helped me with my own learning process. We talked a lot of football daily.”

As an offensive coach, Curry concerned himself with that side of the ball, but he noted big defensive plays that Sanford made from time to time. And when Curry talked to defensive coaches and NFL scouts he knew, he would give Sanford the highest recommendation. Even without those recommendations, Sanford’s extraordinary play on the football field was rather difficult for the pro scouts to miss.

“I remember an interesting interview late in Tony Dorsett’s great career,” Curry says. “Tech played Pitt in Atlanta and Lucius keyed on Tony all night, tackling him constantly.

“Years later, an interviewer asked Tony who hit him the hardest in his college career and Dorsett said no question it was Lucius in that game in 1974. Lucius always came to play.”

In 1985, Sanford was inducted into the Georgia Tech Hall of Fame, and in 2001 he received the same honor from the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in Macon.

If today’s college and NFL players had been on the field alongside Sanford, there is no doubt that they, too, would agree that this outstanding linebacker is the perfect example of how to play football with all your heart, while keeping your head about you.