Smith: Hauss recalls career as standout center

JESUP - When Len Hauss began his career at Georgia, he was a bruising fullback with a glowing high-school résumé.

He expected to remain at the position and didn't react kindly to the Bulldogs coaching staff's notion that he had the makings of an exceptional middle linebacker.

A member of coach Wallace Butts' last freshman class, Hauss was reluctant at the outset, but the rest of his story is evidence that his college coaches were clairvoyant.

Hauss, a center, played 14 years for the Washington Redskins and helped his team reach the Super Bowl in 1973.

A five-time Pro Bowl selection, Hauss started 192 consecutive games. In the National Football League, that's a classic example of an iron-man endurance.

Over lunch at Sybil's restaurant - a popular eatery where you can be introduced to the best in down-home cooking, especially if you are an aficionado of fried chicken, iced tea, and cobbler - Hauss reminisced about his Georgia and NFL careers.

He and his family succumbed to the inordinate charm of line coach J. B. Whitworth, who died in the spring after signing Hauss to a grant-in-aid with the Bulldogs.

"My momma loved coach Whit," Hauss said.

Players don't always love their coaches, and Hauss later found himself facing a compatibility challenge when Vince Lombardi took over the Redskins in 1969.

It was a case of the coach wanting more, even after the player had given his best.

"You had to be mentally tough to play for Lombardi. It was not always fun," Hauss said.

Hauss snapped for two of the Redskins' historically favorite quarterbacks, Billy Kilmer and Sonny Jurgensen.

Hauss and Jurgensen joined the Redskins in 1964. Hauss was a rookie out of Georgia, and Jurgensen had just been traded to the Redskins from the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Leonard was a smart, smart football player," Ju