UGA football great Jake Scott dies at 75
MIAMI — Former University of Georgia football standout Jake Scott, the star safety who was MVP of the Super Bowl that completed the Miami Dolphins’ 1972 perfect season before his relationship with coach Don Shula soured, died Thursday in Atlanta. He was 75.
Scott died after a fall down a stairway that left him in a coma, former Dolphins teammate Dick Anderson said.
Scott played in three consecutive Super Bowls, won backto-back championship rings and made the Pro Bowl five years in a row with Miami. He had two interceptions, including a 55-yard return from the end zone, against Billy Kilmer and the Washington Redskins as the ’72 Dolphins won 14-7 to finish 17-0.
After retiring, Scott became reclusive and harbored hard feelings toward Shula and his coach at Georgia, Vince Dooley. Scott lived for years on a remote Hawaiian island and traveled the world but seldom attended Dolphins or Bulldogs reunions.
He was once close to Shula, but they went without speaking to each other for 28 years, and Scott was one of only two living players to skip the 1972 Dolphins’ 25-year celebration in 1997.
The rift finally ended at a memorabilia show in 2010, where Scott and Shula had a brief conversation, shared laughs and posed with other former Dolphins for photos. Shula died in May of this year.
At Georgia, Scott was an All-American and the Southeastern Conference player of the year in 1968. He played with the Dolphins from 1970 to 1976 and remains their career leader in interceptions and punt return yardage. He also started for the Redskins for three years (197678) and finished his NFL career with 49 interceptions.
Jacob E. Scott III was born July 20, 1945, in Greenwood, South Carolina. He grew up in Athens, Georgia, and was recruited as a receiver by Dooley, who then moved Scott to safety.
Scott is remembered in Athens for the time he rode a motorcycle across the roof of Stegeman Coliseum, but also for his two seasons with the Bulldogs. He led the SEC in interceptions each year and in punt return yardage in 1968, when he helped Georgia win the conference championship.
Dooley called Scott the greatest player he ever coached, ranking him ahead of even Herschel Walker. Scott was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.