Thanksgiving: The Atlanta 20th Century Way

It was an Atlanta Thanksgiving tradition for six decades. The freshman football game, Baby Jackets and Bull Pups.

Georgia Tech vs. Georgia.

Grant Field.

A sellout to benefit Scottish Rite Hospital.

“One of the highlights of my career was this game,” said Georgia Tech legend and College Park native Bill Curry, “One of the highlights of my life was visiting the children at Scottish Rite Hospital.”

Atlanta newspaper icon Ralph McGill, who helped usher in the Civil Rights Movement, typed a slogan — “Strong Legs Will Run, So That Weak Legs May Walk.”

“The stadium was always packed; I always looked forward to Thanksgiving and the Freshman game. Most of the 1950s, I was on the sidelines at Grant Field."

Find someone of a certain age in Atlanta and you can resurrect a Thanksgiving memory as vivid as family, turkey and pumpkin pie.

Bill Hartman spent 50 years as a local Atlanta television sports anchor. He grew up in Athens and graduated from the University of Georgia.

Mr. Hartman’s father, William C. Hartman (1915-2016), was one of the greatest football players in the history of the school. He was a fullback and linebacker for the Red and Black.

In 1937, the powerfully built athlete served as team captain and was named both All-American and first team All-Conference.

He was also an assistant coach for decades involved with the game. 

“The fans wanted to see what they could expect on the varsity in the coming years,” added Mr. Hartman. 

The charity game’s origins can be traced to 1930 when the old Southern Conference played an all-star game.

Northern Blues vs. Cardinal Reds.

Bobby Dodd (1908-1988) was the game MVP in the stadium that would one day bear his name.  

It was the only game he would ever play as a football player at Grant Field.

The next year, it was Georgia Tech vs. the California Bears; the Bears won 19-6.

In 1933, Georgia head coach H.J. Stegeman (1891-1939) and Georgia Tech head coach William Alexander (1889-1950) convinced a group of Atlanta businessmen to serve on a committee for the purpose of selling tickets to a freshman game between the schools. 

The proceeds would benefit local hospitalized children in need.

The Noble Knights of the Mystic Shrine, aka the Shriners, Yaraab Temple (off Ponce), led by Forest Adair assumed control.

The Shriners were attorneys, judges, bankers, CPAs, insurance executives and business people.

During this time in college football, freshman were ineligible and each school played a freshman or junior varsity schedule.

“It was a marvelous annual Atlanta tradition on Thanksgiving day and gave both Georgia and Georgia Tech alumni an insight into what the future prospects were for their respective teams.”

The great Georgia head football coach and athletics director Vince Dooley (1932-2022) said he always remembered this special competition on The Flats:  

“It was also a very memorable day for the players who before the game visited the Children’s Hospitals. The reactions of the patients made the freshman players feel like super heroes.”

Thanksgiving memories of fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grandmothers, brothers, sisters and friends are also highlighted by the Atlanta football game.

Longtime Atlanta television sports anchor and UGA broadcaster Chuck Dowdle said, “For those of us that were born and grew up here, this was THE game because tickets to the Varsity game were virtually unattainable.”

Former Georgia state legislator Carl Rogers of Gainesville told me, “ We used to ride the bus to attend the game from Hall County in the early 1960s.”

Richard Belcher, the former Atlanta television investigative reporter, offered, “Our family always attended in the 1950s and 1960s; it was a great event with 40,000 in attendance.”

University of Georgia Athletic Association legend Loran Smith said, “Frank Sinkwich (1920-1990), UGA Heisman Trophy winner, once said that his greatest collegiate thrill was playing in that Thanksgiving Day game. You felt good when you took your family to this game. The game was always spirited, no matter the talent and the final score. Kids were dominant in the stadium which gave it feeling and a touch of class. They enjoyed the bands and the halftime show which exhibited some showcase theater and colorful pageantry, a little bit of circus which added to the occasion.”

I have received many messages about this loved Atlanta football tradition.

“Our Thanksgiving dinner was always arranged around the game” -Lynn-

“My favorite all time game as a child of the '50s” -Jack-

“I was there every year.” -Kathleen-

“This is what we did on Thanksgiving” -Mary-

“Treasured memories!” -Tom-

The game ended in 1993, when NCAA mandated scholarship and roster limitations forced the game to be discontinued.

Since 1995, the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation has presented the Governors’ Cup to the varsity winning team on Saturday.

In Midtown, off Ponce, inside the Yaraab Temple, I spent a few hours thumbing through dozens of annals (Hard Bound Books), looking for pictures from the event. 

When you Google the game, there are only a handful of pictures to view, but there is so much more to see. 

The Thanksgiving Day tradition of Georgia Tech-Georgia Football, the Thanksgiving meal with friends and family, then downtown for the Rich’s Tree Lighting.

Thanksgiving and Atlanta with a game long gone but never forgotten.