Fumbled Call

Download or read book Fumbled Call written by David E. Sumner and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2018-03-14 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Atlanta insurance salesman George Burnett found himself at the center of a football scandal when he overheard a phone conversation between University of Georgia athletic director Wally Butts and University of Alabama football coach Paul "Bear" Bryant. Butts seemed to be giving Bryant play formations that would help Alabama defeat Georgia 35-0 in the 1962 season opener. When the Saturday Evening Post published Burnett's story months later, Butts and Bryant successfully sued the magazine for libel. The case went to the Supreme Court where it was upheld in a landmark 5-4 decision that expanded the legal definition of "public figures." Referencing more than 3,000 pages of letters, depositions and trial transcripts, the author reveals new information about this scandal and its resulting trial.