Bobby Dodd Institute History

Begin transcript:

Lee Cork >> It’s real important to us for others to know what he was really like. He wasn’t just a football coach—he was a great person, and he had a great gift for making others feel important, for helping you feel like you were so capable and wanting you to be your best, whatever that was.

Kelly Thompson >> What he was like away from work was a big kid, for the most part. I enjoyed the fact that he was non-traditional in that respect, and he was so kind. You know, if you should go through life, you should go through happy, and he always wanted to be, and he made others that way.

Alice Dodd >> He was always giggling and singing and almost dancing around the house, ready to tease and play, and he enjoyed life so much—it was infectious. He would just get you excited just to be in a room with him. To do any activity with him was just fun and full of joy.

[Lively music playing]

Bill Curry >> Well, playing for him was a constant challenge, but he was a great man. One of the few great men I’ve ever known. And I began to learn that my first week meeting number one.

“Now, man, if you’re not a good football player, that’s not your fault. That’s my fault because I invited you here. We’re not gonna kill you on the practice field. We’re not gonna rough you up. We’re not gonna scream profanity, and you are not gonna be degrade you in any way. But you are going to go to every single class.”

And I thought he was so nice—he couldn’t have been serious about that.

So, I was 17 years old, and I had chemistry at 8 o’clock four mornings a week, and I decided that there’s no way the chemistry teacher could report me if I just slept in once. Coach Dodd would never know.

The day after I cut class, the day after, my name is on the bulletin board:

“Bill Curry, report to Grant Field, 5:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in your running gear.”

I ran up and down those West Stands until I was gagging and sobbing, and I decided that chemistry class at 8 o’clock in the morning was a wonderful thing.

And here’s what happened. My football coach loved me too much to allow me to self-destruct. And I could not see my own potential, and he saved a life in an instant. That’s what Bobby Dodd meant to me in the beginning.

Lee Cork >> And he always thought BDI was a wonderful organization, and he always had a special heart for the disabled and the disadvantaged, and he would be so honored that they used his name.

Kelly Thompson >> So for BDI to recognize him, the affirmation that he was such a great person, his character was incredible. And this institute represents that. And this is the nicest thing that could happen with his legacy.

Alice Dodd >> His memory is continuing on, not just as a successful coach and a wonderful leader of young men, but what he was able to give us: a sense of the joy in life and the self-respect of what you get when you work really hard and you enjoy what you’re doing.

The fact that that is continuing to spread among other people, and that people are continuing to think of him as someone with those gifts to give, is just amazing and wonderful. And we’re so grateful that you are continuing to hold him up as an example of someone who did such wonderful things in the world.