The Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice era is widely regarded as the golden age of North Carolina football. From 1946-49, Justice, a two-time second-place finisher for the Heisman Trophy, led the Tar Heels to major bowl games, a few top-10 finishes and even the program’s only No. 1 ranking.
Second in line might be the 1996 and 1997 Tar Heels, a group that included more than 20 eventual NFL players. One of whom wasn’t considered a pro prospect when he arrived in Chapel Hill, but Tucker, GA, native Jeff Saturday not only starred at UNC, but he’s likely headed to the NFL Hall of Fame one day. And that’s why he’s the Georgia representative in this series.
Saturday may be known as one of the hardest working players ever in the history of Carolina football. The powerful center was a two-time first-team All-ACC selection in 1996 and 1997 anchoring the offensive line for UNC teams that finished back-to-back seasons ranked in the top 10.
“What a competitor Jeff Saturday is,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said prior to the 1997 season. “In addition to being a first-team All-ACC center, Jeff is a standout in the classroom. It is easy to see and hear how much of a vocal leader Jeff is, but you have to understand how much he also leads by example.
“Jeff works hard and demands a lot of himself and his teammates, and that pushes us to be a better team. He really is the anchor of our offensive line, and we need him to stay healthy and have a big year."
Saturday helped lead an offense that included three 1,000-yard rushers, a first-team All-ACC quarterback, and an offense that scored 40 or more points 13 times, 50 or more four times and 60 once. The Tar Heels went 36-12 during Saturday’s career finishing in the top 10 during his junior and senior campaigns.
He played 13 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Indianapolis Colts, where he snapped the ball to Peyton Manning for most of those years, setting an NFL record as a center with the most starts with the same quarterback. Saturday played in six Pro Bowls, was twice named first-team All-Pro, was named NFL Alumni Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2007, was a key part of a Super Bowl champion, and in 2015 he earned a spot in the Colts’ Ring of Honor.
Saturday started 202 of the 211 games he played and recovered 11 fumbles in his career. He’s been awarded numerous awards for his service in the community as well as being nominated for the Walter Payton Award. He was nominated last fall for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is where he will eventually be enshrined.
As for his time at UNC, Saturday spoke with tremendous pride about those days and the culture within the program in an interview in 2014 with UNC’s official site GoHeels.com.
“We weren’t the biggest names, but there was a level of accountability amongst each other that really brought our program up; we were going to win…” he said. “We weren’t afraid to challenge each other.”
Saturday then went on to offer an example:
“We were undefeated at the time and we were playing Florida State and had a bad game against Florida State, and I remember going in and apologizing to BSims (Brian Simmons), ‘Man, I’m sorry, we (offense) didn’t do our part.’ And he said, ‘You should be, you guys didn’t get it done.’
“But that kind of stuff challenged each and every one of us and all of us took responsibility for what we did on the field.”
Saturday is currently an NFL analyst for ESPN.
