Bill Stanfill, a player who will forever remain in the hearts of Georgia fans and a truly fine human being who will be sorely missed.

 

VINCE DOOLEY, UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA HEAD FOOTBALL COACH, 1964-88; DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS, 1979-2004

He was everything you’d want in a defensive tackle. He combined speed, size, range, quickness and competitiveness to make him one of the greatest linemen to ever play the game.”

 

GEORGE PATTON, ALL-AMERICAN SENIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE AND CAPTAIN ON 1966 UGA SEC CHAMPIONS

Bill was a brother and a friend and he has continued to be a friend for 50 years, and I loved him … what can I tell you? He was fun to be with and you could always depend on him on the football field, for sure, and depend on him after football. He was a great person and will be missed by everybody.”

 

STEVE GREER, REDSHIRT JUNIOR DEFENSIVE GUARD ON THE BULLDOGS’ 1968 SEC CHAMPIONS

We came in as freshmen together and we wound up being great friends. Bill was a great player who always had a smile on his face and loved to compete and loved to joke around. We hunted together, had a good time together but he was just a good friend and a great player.”

 

CHARLEY WHITTEMORE, REDSHIRT SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER ON GEORGIA’S 1968 SEC CHAMPIONS

Bill and I actually played against each other in high school when he was a senior at Cairo High and I was a junior at Douglas County High. Even in high school, we were always talking about how great a player he was. But at Georgia he was a great leader of the team and a great inspiration to us all. Bill was one of the toughest guys on the team and I think everybody understood that, the way he fought through all the injuries he had. But he was very tough, just mentally tough, too. He had great stamina and again, he was a senior leader of our team. I played on offense, didn’t play on defense like George and Steve who played beside him and being with him every day. But again, he was a great leader for our total team and everybody really respected him for his leadership as well as his athletic ability.”

 

JEFF DANTZLER, UGA HISTORIAN AND SPORTSCASTER

Bill Stanfill is one of the greatest players in Georgia and Miami Dolphins history. He was a dominant force and amongst the elite defensive linemen of all time. Think about this, he is one of the best players ever for three legendary coaches: Vince Dooley, Erk Russell and Don Shula. He led Georgia to two SEC championships and was an enormous part of the Dolphins two Super Bowl victories. Without question, he is on the short list of the very best Bulldogs and Dolphins to ever play the game.”

 

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