In 1996, a photographer for the Montgomery Advertiser snapped a picture that is somewhat of a legend in the world of college football. The image shows Uga V, the University of Georgia’s live bulldog mascot, lunging toward an Auburn University football player during a game.
The photograph isn’t just an unforgettable image; it speaks to the depth of the rivalry between the two teams. The annual matchup is famously referred to as the "Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry." The teams first went head-to-head on the football field more than 130 years ago, on February 20, 1892.
Watch this video to hear the story behind the photo of Uga and the Auburn player.
It’s been 30 years since that picture was taken, and Charles Seiler, the man holding Uga’s leash, told
USA TODAY what led to that historic moment and what he says is the “most famous” picture of himself.
Back in 1996, football stadiums didn’t have jumbotrons. So, to see the play, Seiler and Uga V had to move closer to the field to follow the action.
“It was a long play,” Seiler says. “An Auburn player made a good play. Caught the ball, ran in the end zone.”
The player, Robert Baker, “was going to do the Yosemite Sam thing and dance a little bit,” Seiler recalls as he recreates the finger guns and does a little wiggle in his interview chair inside the suite the family and mascot have stayed in for years.
“That player came by and was fast and the dog almost lit him up,” Seiler says, citing the dog’s natural prey drive to grab anything that’s moving fast around them. “He ran out of rope, or the dog would’ve really caused a problem.”
The American Kennel Club (AKC) considers bulldogs very open to strangers and very playful. When it comes to how protective they are or how likely they are to react to something, they fall more in the middle of the AKC’s scale.
Contrary to what some fans might think, Uga V was not trained to hate Auburn players. “He would’ve gone after one of our players, too.”
The mascot, professionally known as Uga V but actually named UGA IV’s Magillicuddy II, represented the universityfrom 1990 to 1999. During that time, he graced the cover of Sports Illustrated, where he was named the nation’s best college mascot, and appeared in the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” He passed away shortly after retiring and was laid to rest alongside his predecessors in a mausoleum inside Sanford Stadium.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What led to the iconic photo of Uga V and the Auburn player?
