Butch Mulherin, the first orthopedic MD to hang out his shingle in Athens, was a Georgia native, a Bulldog football letterman, a man of good humor with a deep and abiding passion for following a birddog through the brush and bramble of family acreage near Damascus in deep Southwest Georgia.
Seeing patients flourish physically following surgery and knocking down a pair of Bob Whites on a covey rise forever exhilarated this Damn Good Dawg.
His athletic career was circuitous, but when he found his way, owing principally to the influence of his late wife, Ann, Butch’s medical journey was pioneering and ultimately thriving and pace setting in the Athens community.
Butch was a highly respected physician; he “fixed” a lot of broken bones, and repaired innumerable anterior cruciate ligaments that enabled countless athletes to return to lineups where glory was achieved in competition.
While I have not set about conducting a survey with his legion of patients, I don’t see how any doctor could have had a more uplifting bedside manner than Butch who would engage his patients in small talk about their family or their interests. He was always smiling, affable, and sentimental.
A native of Augusta there were at least seven Mulherin’s who answered to the title of, “Doctor,” but that did not influence him, early on, to study medicine. His father and grandfather were pediatricians but he had no interest in following in their footsteps. He was a late achiever, dating back to the time he was in high school. He did not play football initially, preferring the country club sports of tennis and golf.
He was good at sports involving the use of his hands which would eventually bode well for him professionally. “To be honest,” he once said, “I was experiencing a fun life without a commitment to serious sports involvement and the classroom was for just getting by.” His passion for his signature hobby, woodworking, would become an asset later in his career.
Because he stood 6-4, his high school football coach, Frank Inman, advised him that he would be a natural at basketball. The coach was right which revealed that underneath all that reluctance, Butch Mulherin was blessed with notable athletic ability. Inman talked him into playing football. He played end and played it well enough to get the attention of the UGA football coaches after only one year on the gridiron. Serendipity smiled in his direction when he was offered a grant-in-aid to play for the Dogs.
In Athens, he developed a relationship with Zeke Bratkowski and became a favorite pass catching target of the man who would become one of the most valuable members of the Vince Lombardi title grabbing Packers. Zeke was the backup to Bart Starr in the ultimate glory days of the Green Bay Packers.
Even so, Butch knew that he would not follow a path to the NFL. While it was not blatantly obvious, the medical tradition of his family lay heavily on his mind. Much of that had to do with his social relationship with Ann Collins. Dating this bright, attractive co-ed with a scholarly bent brought focus and direction to his life.
Suddenly, Butch was socializing at the library. Not only did his report card show improved grades, but he was also enjoying a fulfilling campus experience. With academic enlightenment came love and marriage. In the days that followed, Butch returned to Augusta to enroll in the Medical College of Georgia, graduating in 1961. Following residency training, he began thinking of a community in which to settle.
Augusta would have been a good fit, and so would Atlanta, but there was serious interest in Athens, although his plans to become the first full-time orthopedic were not met with any enthusiasm in the Classic City medical community. One doc who welcomed him with open arms was Marion Hubert, the longtime Georgia team physician.
At the time, players who suffered serious injury such as anterior cruciate ligament damage had to journey to Atlanta for surgery. A former Bulldog player, Dr. Joe Boland, was an able physician and so was Fred Allman who followed. Players undergoing surgery in Athens and being able to recuperate in a more familiar environment fared much better. Butch’s timing was acutely propitious.
I’ll always appreciate Butch Mulherin for his many fine qualities as a person. His skills and expertise as a physician always brought high marks from his peers and his patients.
Road games when the Bulldogs journeyed out of town were great fun. Tennis matches, if a court were near the team facility, meals at the leading restaurants, and cold beers before dinner where story telling was a staple of the evening remain indelible in my memory. Butch loved a good joke and a good story.
I never saw him angry or mad. He had the countenance of your sagacious grandfather. He treated all the Georgia football players with the care that he would have underscored for his own son.
His sense of humor was ingrained in his personality. Once in the Herschel Walker era, the great running back’s ankle got twisted in a pileup. The master of playing hurt, Herschel hobbled to the sideline and was taken to a training table.
When trainer Warren Morris came over and asked, “What does it look like?” Butch said, “It’s broken.” The Bulldog trainer almost fainted as Butch grinned with a “just kidding” remark As the Georgia radio network sideline announcer, I told that sideline episode on the air. The entire South stands seemed to be listening in, and when I quoted Butch’s “just kidding” remark, there was a crescendo of grateful “Ahhhaaa’s” emanating from Bulldog fans.