Rufus Benajamin "Cow" Nalley (December 27, 1870 – November 28, 1902) was a three sport participant at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

, playing football and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

and participating in

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

. He was described as being of average height and weighing around 200 pounds. Nalley is the only five-year letterman in the history of

Georgia Bulldogs football The Georgia Bulldogs football program represents the University of Georgia in the sport of American football. The Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Div ...

, lettering each year from 1892 to 1896. In Georgia's inaugural season in 1892, Nalley played tackle. During the next two seasons (1893 and 1894), Nalley played

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

. When

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

came to coach Georgia football for the 1895 and 1896 seasons, Nalley was moved to halfback. Cow Nalley was the captain of the 1896 team, the first undefeated football team at Georgia. Nalley was a three-year letterman in baseball, earning letters in 1894, 1895 and 1896. He also threw the hammer and the shot put when participating in track and field events at Georgia. After his playing career, Nalley joined Georgia as an assistant coach for the 1897 and 1898 seasons. In 1899, Nalley was named head coach for

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, but finished the year with no wins and just one tie in seven games. Nalley died on November 28, 1902, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

, after a short, serious illness. According to some, the last thing that he heard before losing consciousness on November 27, 1902, was that Georgia had beaten its rival Auburn earlier that day, news that caused him to smile. It was the first victory for Georgia in the

Deep South's Oldest Rivalry The Auburn–Georgia football rivalry is a college football rivalry game between the Auburn Tigers and Georgia Bulldogs. The two teams first played each other in 1892, and the rivalry has been renewed annually since 1944 for a total of 126 ga ...

since the championship season of 1896 for which Nalley played.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* Reed, Thomas Walter (1949). Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press. ''History of the University of Georgia; Chapter XVII: Athletics at the University from the Beginning Through 1947''
imprint pages 3429-3430, 3433, 3439, 3443-3444, 3471
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nalley, Rufus B. 1870 births 1902 deaths 19th-century players of American football American football centers American football halfbacks American football tackles American male hammer throwers American male shot putters Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Georgia Bulldogs football players Georgia Bulldogs track and field athletes Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football coaches People from Villa Rica, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Track and field athletes from Georgia (U.S. state)