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Former PHS Coach Herb St. John
School System Exec
Former All-American
The block of granite
came out of Andrew
Jackson High School in
Jacksonville, Florida in
1943, and went on to earn
All Southeastern Con
ference honors four
straight years at the
University of Georgia as
an offensive guard. His
name Herbert LeGrande
St. John, now employed
with the Houston County
school system as director
of transportation and
maintenance.
Herb weighed around
185 pounds while playing
for the Andy Jackson
Tigers and there was
named All-State In 1942
and 1943. He graduated in
December of 1943 and
was courted by Duke,
Tennessee, Auburn,
Georgia, and by Florida.
The stocky, powerful
looking man chuckles as
he remembers, "There is
a good story in how I got
to Georgia and played for
the Bulldogs. My senior
year in high school, after
my final game, a Florida
coach stopped me and
said he would be back
with a football scholar
ship two weeks later.
Well, at Christmas I got a
postcard, but never heard
another word."
He continues, "Folks
from Tennessee, Auburn
and Duke came by to talk
with me, but I told them
all I was going to play at
Florida. Then Mike
Castronls, who played at
Andrew Jackson ahead of
me, asked me to come to
Athens for a visit. I got
there at 4:00 p.m. that
fortunate day and by 5:00
p.m. was enrolled In
classes."
A stubby, determined
coach by the name of
Wally Butts was over
joyed to see St. John. "I
remember I walked into
his office and Coach Butts
asked me what position I
played. I answered
"tackle" and he replied,
"Son, up here you'll have
to play guard."
Herb quickly had the
moniker of "The Saint"
tagged on him by Bulldog
assistant coach J.B.
Whitworth and the tag
hung like glue. Opponents
thought he played more
like the Devil, though, as
ole St. John earned All-
SEC honors as a mere
4Mt %
ft* Jf
“The Saint'’ Kicks Off
Herbert LeGrande "The Saint” St. John of the 1946 Georgia Bulldogs
practices his kickoffs as a well-known teammate holds the pigskin. St.
John, now 51, was All SEC for four
football coach at Perry High from
sportation and maintenance for the
teammate? All-American halfback
freshman in 1944.
Georgia posted an 8-2
record that year and
Herb played in the Blue-
Gray All-Star game in
Montgomery. Yes, even
though just a frosh, Herb
was allowed to play in the
post-season classic.
In 1945 the Dogs carded
a 7 3 record and defeated
Tulsa in the Oil Bowl 20-6.
"The Saint" was again
named All-SEC.
But it was a year later,
in 1946, that Georgia put
together a real gridiron
powerhouse. The Dogs
roared out of the starting
blocks and ripped to an
11-0 record that included
a 35-0 thrashing of the
Georgia Tech Yellow
Jackets. Ranked in the
top five In the country,
the Dogs met powerful
North Carolina In the
Sugar Bowl on January 1,
1947.
The Tarheels had an
All-American tailback
named Charlie "Choo
Choo" Justice, but the
Butts-coached Dogs
prevailed 20-10. Six of the
eleven starters on that
band of scrappy canines
went on to play
professional football,
including Herbert
LeGrande St. John.
The 1946 Bulldogs held
a reunion two weeks ago
in Athens. A good many
were there. Asked to list
the starters on that team
regarded by many as
Georgia's finest of all
time, Herb charts: "At
right end- Joe
Tereshinski- 193 pounds;
right tackle- Bulldog
Williams- 210; right
guard- Howard Johnson
-195; center- Mike Colley
-195; left guard "The
Saint" at 210; left tackle-
Jack Bush- 215; left end-
Dan Edwards- 185."
"Our backfleld con
sisted of Johnny Rauch at
quarterback 185; Rabbit
Smith at right half- 160;
Dick McPhee at fullback
-185, and a boy named
Charley Trlppl at left
half- 180," St. John adds.
In 1947, Herb's senior
year, the Bulldogs posted
a 7-3 record and tied
Maryland 20-20 In the
Gator Bowl. St. John was
drafted by the Green Bay
Packers of the National
Football League and the
Brooklyn Dodgers of the
straight years at Georgia and head
1954-68. He is now director of tran-
Houston County school system. The
Charley Trippi.
All-American Con
ference. He opted to deal
with the Dodgers and the
All-America guard got a
bonus of SSOO to sign. He
had been listed on All-
American squads both in
1946 and 1947.
Herb's wife, Barbara
Lanneau St. John, says,
"We thought we were 1
rich and went out and
bought a car." "The
Saint" married his
hometown sweetheart as
a sophomore at the
University of Georgia.
In addition to St. John,
other members of that
1946 squad who ventured
into pro football in
cluded: Tereshinski with
the Washington Red
skins; Smith and Trlppl
with the St. Louis Car
dinals; and Williams and
Edwards with the
Dodgers.
After Herb's first year
in professional football,
the Brooklyn team folded
and he played a season
for the Chicago Hornets,
still in the A-A Con
ference.
About that time the All-
American Conference
went into bankruptcy and
St. John's contract was
grabbed by the Pitt
sburgh Steelers. But
Herb had decided to get
into coaching and so in
1950 became coach at
Manchester High School
In Georgia. There he
stayed until 1954 when the
still-small central
Georgia town of Perry
put in a call for his ser
vices.
Herb was Perry's first
football coach and was
head grid mentor until
1968, when he was offered
an administrative job
with the county school
system. There he still
works, and Is highly
respected among his
colleagues. While at
Perry High, he also
coached track and was
assistant principal to
"Professor" Eric
Staples.
Asked what he con
siders the most satisfying
victory of his four years
at Georgia, Herb replies,
"It would have to be our
14-0 win over Alabama In
1946. The great All-
American quarterback,
Harry Gilmer, did not
complete a single pass
against us all day!"
When "The Saint" was
active, facemasks were
not in use, as evidenced
by the accompanying 31
year old photo. Herb had
the reputation, according
to a press sheet, of being
"as sturdy as a fire plug
and twice as hard to push
over".
Almost a Touchdown
In the late 1940'5,
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ballplayers went both
ways. As a result Herb
played quite a bit of
defensive tackle, and
blocked several punts. He
intercepted one pass,
against the University of
Chattanooga in 1945.
In one forgettable
scenario. Herb recalls
blocking a punt, snat
ching the ball out of the
air, and lumbering
toward the opponents'
goal. Alas, he was caught
from behind, on the two
yard line! That was the
closest he ever came to
scoring for the Dogs.
So today Herbert
LeGrande St. John, 51,
resides in the city of
Perry, Georgia. He has a
great storehouse of
memories and is living in
the same named town
where he was born. Yes,
on January 17, 1926, Herb
was born in,
Perry!...Perry, Florida!
I V LLLJ
”
Herb and Barbara St. John pore through a locker full of articles, game
programs and other momentos from Herb’s playing days with the
University of Georgia and two professional football teams. Herb was
described as “sturdy as a fire plug and harder to push over” in a 1946
publication and made All-America teams in 1946 and 1947.