Two years after Florida quarterback Tim Tebow won national attention for setting the single-season record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback, Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs of Douglas County broke the record in 2009, despite playing with a broken kneecap in the last six games. Dobbs scored 27 times, leading Navy to 10 wins and a seventh consecutive Commander-in-Chief's Trophy. Dobbs, who has said he wants to run for president in 2040, will be honored Sunday in Douglasville with the key to the city. He spoke with the AJC this week. Answers were edited for length.
Q: When you run for president, who's going to be your running mate?
A: I'm not sure. A couple people have been showing interest. I know one guy who has been talking about it a lot is Brian Blick, one of my teammates here. He told me he's going to run with me. I'm going to see how true it is.
Q: Can you compare the pain of a broken kneecap to anything else?
A: I really can't. I think it was the worst that I've ever had to deal with. … It was like someone kept pushing a sharp object on my knee and on my patellar tendon. Every time I took a step, it was like pushing it.
Q: What did it mean to you to break the single-season record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback?
A: It's not like I was out to break the record in the first place. What meant the most for me was to be able to share it with the offensive line and the rest of the offensive unit. Without them, I probably wouldn't have had the record. As for me, it's the whole offense breaking the record.
Q: Georgia Tech players try to watch your team run the triple option when they can. Do you do the same?
A: I try to watch as much as possible. I think they made some major strides. I actually had an opportunity to go to one of their practices the first time they went to a bowl game, when they played against LSU [in 2009]. Everything was the same. Coach [Paul] Johnson still had the same mode and everything was the same. It's interesting to see how two teams have the same system and are productive.
Q: Who's a team you'd love to play?
A: Right now, it'd be Georgia Tech, because Coach Johnson and a coach who recruited me, Coach [Brian] Bohannon, they're still at Georgia Tech. It'd be interesting.
Q: What's your favorite part of being at the academy?
A: Just being friends with different kinds of people, different coaches, just learning from each other and also the brotherhood on the football team.
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