Kent Lawrence will be remembered for the great plays he made as a dynamic football player for the Georgia Bulldogs, but his greatest impact came in decades on the bench as a judge in Athens-Clarke County.
Lawrence, who starred for the Bulldogs in the 1960s, died in Athens on Friday morning after an extended illness. He was 72.
As a judge, Lawrence presided over State Court from 1985 until his retirement in 2011 and was the founder of the Athens-Clarke County's DUI/Drug Court, which was the first of its kind in the state of Georgia and one of the first nationwide.
Georgia football fans are more likely to recall Lawrence for the many highlights he produced wearing the No. 24 jersey for Vince Dooley from 1965-68. As the Bulldogs' starting tailback for the 1966 SEC Championship team, Lawrence recorded an 87-yard kickoff return against VMI, a 70-yard punt return vs. Georgia Tech and a 74-yard TD run against SMU in the Cotton Bowl. Lawrence was named the MVP of that Cotton Bowl as he rushed for 149 yards to set the UGA bowl rushing record that stood for 25 years. He was inducted into the Cotton Bowl Hall of Fame in 2003.
On the 1968 team, which also won an SEC championship, Lawrence played halfback, split end and flanker catching 35 passes for 491 yards and four touchdowns. Following his college career, he played with the Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.
Lawrence played when freshmen were not eligible to compete on the varsity. But in 1965 he led the Georgia freshman team in punt returns, with seven for 84 yards. Lawrence set the Georgia record of 9.5 seconds in the 100-yard dash and placed second in the SEC freshman track meet with a 9.4-second run.
A native of Central, S.C., Lawrence came to Georgia following an all-state football and track career at Daniel High School, where he also lettered in baseball and basketball. He earned state titles in the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard dashes.
Lawrence earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from UGA. After football, Lawrence earned his law degree from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law at Oglethorpe University.
The Judge Kent Lawrence Football Scholarship Endowment recently was established to honor Lawrence.
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