Topic: Vernon Smith

Vernon "Catfish" Smith (January 14, 1908 – September 29, 1988) played football at the University of Georgia from 1929 to 1931 and was named an All-American in 1931. In 1929, he scored all 15 points for Georgia in an upset of Yale University – scoring one touchdown by falling on a blocked punt in the end zone and another by receiving a pass, kicking an extra point and tackling a Yale player for a safety. The game was the first-ever played at Sanford Stadium. Smith was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Smith's nickname of "Catfish" is attributed to his biting the head of one off as a twenty-five cents (quarter) bet while a student at Lanier High School in Macon, Georgia. He and a friend were fishing in Walnut Creek.

After completing his Georgia career as a football player in 1931 (he graduated with a B.S. in 1933), Catfish Smith went into coaching from 1932 to 1941 and coached football at Georgia, the University of South Carolina and the University of Mississippi. He was also the head baseball coach at the University of Georgia and the University of South Carolina. He then joined the United States Army Air Forces, retiring in 1963 with the rank of colonel.