Sixty-Minute Man

July 26, 2004

by Jim Sumner
Blue Devil Weekly

"I don't remember getting tired. I never thought about it. You were just prepared to do whatever the coaches asked you to."

If any Duke football player ever had a reason to be tired, it was George Clark. He was one of those 60-minute guys, back in the golden age of Duke football. Clark was a runner, a passer, a kicker, a kick returner and a defender, and he excelled in all of them.

George Clark grew up in Wilson, N.C., in the 1930s. Wilson High School had the legendary Leon Brogden coaching football, baseball and basketball. "I first remember seeing Coach Brogden when I was in the fifth grade," Clark recalls. "He organized softball games for the kids and pitched for both teams. I hit a home run one time, all the way across the road. I thought I was special." Brogden no doubt returned the thought when Clark reached high school and starred for all three of his teams.

A slight but speedy 5-foot-10, 168-pounder, Clark could have named his college. He looked only 75 miles or so down the road to Duke University. "I grew up during the great Wade teams, the Iron Dukes and so forth. It was an easy choice."

Clark arrived at Duke in the spring of 1944, during the middle of World War II. Like most of the male students on campus, he was enrolled in the Navy V-12 program. Eddie Cameron was football coach, as Wallace Wade was serving in the military.

From the beginning of his career, Clark demonstrated a knack for returning punts. "We were pretty aggressive on punt returns," he recalled. "I don't ever remember making a fair catch. It just wasn't an option. We were taught to catch the ball and go from there."

Against Wake Forest in 1944 Clark caught the ball on the Duke five and went 95 yards for a score. "I remember Tom Davis giving me a great block, driving his man off the field and onto the track. If I had that kind of room, I was tough to catch." The 95-yard punt return remains the Duke school record.

Duke went 5-4 in 1944, with losses to Army, Navy, and North Carolina Pre-Flight. Clark led the team with 528 yards rushing and a 19.7 punt return average. The latter also remains a school record.

One of the top college teams in the nation, Duke was awarded a Sugar Bowl bid to play Alabama. Clark had one of his best games. In the opening minutes he went 52 yards to set up his own subsequent touchdown. "It was 37-B," Clark remembered. "We would draw the defensive end inside, pull the fullback, and guard Ernie

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