James Parks "Buck" Cheves (November 28, 1898 – April 12, 1995) was an American

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

player and

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. Cheves played for the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

and later was a

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

official for 35 years.

Biography

Cheves was born in

Richwood, Georgia Richwood is an unincorporated community in Dooly County, in the U.S. state of Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Ge ...

, in 1898, and his family moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

before 1900. He prepped at

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a Public college, public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was ori ...

in Milledgeville. Cheves starred in the backfield of the 1919 Georgia football team, He then led the "ten second

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and full ...

" of the 1920 Georgia football team under first-year coach Herman Stegeman. The team compiled an 8–0–1 record and won a

Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association (SIAA) was one of the first collegiate athletic conferences in the United States. Twenty-seven of the current Division I FBS (formerly Division I-A) football programs were members of this conferen ...

(SIAA) title. It was the first Georgia squad to be known as the "Bulldogs." Cheves played without a

helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

, because he claimed the headgear impaired his hearing. He returned a kick blocked by Puss Whelchel for 87 yards, scoring a touchdown to defeat

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

during the 1920 season. The play was ranked fourth in the 2008 book ''The 50 Greatest Plays In Georgia Bulldogs Football History'', and still stands as one of the longest return touchdowns in Bulldogs history. Cheves was also a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

on the Georgia basketball team. He was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the 1921 basketball team that lost to

Basil Hayden Basil Ewing Hayden (May 19, 1899 – January 9, 2003) was an American college basketball player and coach. A Kentucky native, he began playing the sport in the sixth grade and, after a year at Transylvania University, transferred to the Universi ...

and the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

' "Wonder Team" in the SIAA championship game. He was a member of the

Sigma Chi Sigma Chi () International Fraternity is one of the largest North American social Fraternities and sororities, fraternities. The fraternity has 244 active undergraduate chapters and 152 alumni chapters across the United States and Canada and has ...

fraternity. A ballad dedicated to Cheves appeared in the student newspaper, ''Red and Black'':

O! Cheves! O! Cheves! In south, thou art rough, The enemy grieves When thou show'st thy stuff, Thou art like a hurricane, Thou hittest them hard, God pity the man Whom thou dost guard.

In 1924, sportswriter

Morgan Blake William Morgan Blake (February, 1889 – July 26, 1953) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter in the South who in his 24 years on the job covered seven Rose Bowl games. He also taught the south's largest Sunday School class. Early ye ...

listed Cheves as the quarterback in his selection of the greatest football players from Atlanta. In 1945, Cheves was president of the Touchdown Club of Atlanta. He was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1976. Outside of his sporting career, Cheves was involved in real estate from 1922 though his retirement in the 1980s. He died in 1995, aged 96.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheves, Buck 1898 births 1995 deaths People from Dooly County, Georgia American football quarterbacks College football officials Guards (basketball) Georgia Bulldogs basketball players Georgia Bulldogs football players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) American men's basketball players