KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee has a proud football program rich in tradition and history, and over the years many great players have played on Rocky Top.
Vols Wire looks at which players wore each jersey number for the Volunteers.
No. 72
The number goes back to 1937 in Tennessee football history and it was first worn by one of the program’s most decorated players.
George Cafego was the first player to wear the number for the Volunteers. He donned the number for three seasons from 1937-39.
Cafego, a native of the rural town of Whipple, West Virginia, played for legendary coach Robert Neyland in Knoxville. He was a quarterback, fullback and halfback in the General’s single-wing offense.
He was a two time All-America selection and a three-time letter winner for the Vols. Cafego was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969 after compiling a career total of 2,139 all-purpose yards and was a Heisman Trophy finalist during his collegiate career.
The former Vol was a first-round selection in the 1940 NFL Draft, going No. 1 to the Chicago Cardinals. But he never played for Chicago. He wound up with the Brooklyn Dodgers, where he played in 1940 and 1943.
A quarterback in the professional ranks, Cafego went on to play for the Washington Redskins (1943) and the Boston Yanks (1944-45).
He threw five touchdown passes in his pro career.
After that, he went into coaching, starting his career at Furman. He went on to coach at Wyoming, Arkansas and Tennessee.
Cafego was always an assistant coach on the gridiron, but was Wyoming’s head baseball coach in 1950. He was UT’s baseball coach from 1958-62.
He left the college game in 1984, departing from Tennessee, and was an NFL assistant for Denver Broncos in 1986 and for the Minnesota Vikings in 1987.
At Tennessee, he coached under Bill Battle, Johnny Majors, Doug Dickey and Bowden Wyatt.
All-time players to wear No. 72 at Tennessee:
George Cafego (1937-39)
Orvis Miner (1946-48)
Johnny Hahn (1949-51)
John McWilliams (1954)
Frank Kolinsky (1955-57)
Stuart Ballengee (1958-59)
J.M. Ditmore (1960)
Ed Beard (1961)
Bob Watson (1962)
John Eller (1963)
Joe Graham (1964-66)
Mike Bevans (1968)
Jimmy Moss (1969)
David Page (1972-75)
Ralph Bullard (1976-77)
Tim Ford (1978)
John Matthews (1980-83)
Ray Robinson (1985-88)
Chris Schuster (1989)
James Wilson (1990-93)
Jarvis Reado (1995-98)
Heath Benedict (2003)
Albert Toeaina (2004-05)
Ramone Johnson (2007-08)
Chase Phillips (2009)
Zach Fulton (2010-13)
Michael Sawyers (2014)
Darnell Wright (2019)
Source: 2019 Tennessee Football Media Guide