These westwords are in response to a special request from the George Cafego Committee of Old Volunteers.

Tennessee’s triumph over Vanderbilt dusted off treasured memories of the long-ago all-American tailback, College Hall of Fame honoree, No. 1 NFL draft choice, career assistant coach and forever a fierce foe of the “Commondores.”

That was George’s spelling. He hated Vanderbilt. He once declined to tell me how he really felt.

“Children might read the story.”

George Cafego would have been the personification of rags-to-riches if he had ever been paid more than a minimum wage.

He had nothing – literally nothing – as a teenager in Scarbro, West Virginia. His parents were dead. He lived wherever he could find a meal and the corner of somebody’s rug to sleep on. A sister helped as long as she could. His junior high coach took him in. Other coaches were supportive.

George’s spending money came from scavenging little lumps of coal from the scrap heap at the mine. He sold and delivered full burlap bags for 50 cents. One summer, he was paid for playing baseball in a semi-pro adult league.

A former Tennessee player told Robert R. Neyland that the youngster was an exceptional athlete and a competitive winner. Neyland found Scarbro and offered George a way out.

“Come to Tennessee and I’ll take care of you,” said Neyland.

Cafego wasn’t exactly sure what that meant and didn’t know where Tennessee was but he decided to go for it. Friends, fragments of his family and George’s best buddies chipped in to buy a bus ticket. His remaining assets were $6.

He arrived in Knoxville with one spare pair of pants, two shirts and some clean underwear in a borrowed cardboard suitcase tied up with string.

He said he was so intimidated by his first view of the big city that he would have caught the bus going back, accepted a life in the coal mines, if he could have afforded a return ticket.

Cafego became the most productive player on one of the best teams in Tennessee football history. Guard Bob Suffridge was of comparable fame.

The 1938 Volunteers won all their games, eight by shutouts. Some authorities proclaimed them national champions.

The 1939 Vols won 10 in a row without giving up a point. The victory streak reached 23.

Cafego’s initial hatred of Vanderbilt was rooted in Neyland’s attitude. The young military officer had been hired to do something about the Nashville situation. Vandy had won 17 of 21 early games.

In the beginning, Neyland seized the underdog role. Later, Cafego heard about Vanderbilt affluence, the silver spoons, intellectual image, all the things he never had.

Still later, he suffered a leg injury in a Vanderbilt game. He blamed it on an illegal hit. Indeed, he despised the Commodores.

Cafego became a coach on former teammate Bowden Wyatt’s staff at Wyoming and Arkansas before they came to Tennessee. He could teach running backs, passers, safeties and kickers a thing or two.

He stayed 30 years and served as an assistant to five different head coaches – Wyatt, Jim McDonald, Doug Dickey, Bill Battle and John Majors, an all-American he had coached.

Cafego claimed the role of motivational leader in the rivalry with Vanderbilt. He delivered pre-game pep talks. I never was offered a chance to sit in but old Vols say his presentations were classics.

He’d start at conversational volume and get louder as he went. The mission was explicit. Adjectives became more colorful. Before he ran low on fuel, somebody would open the dressing room door. The Commodores never had a chance.

There are former Vols who believe Tennessee’s decades of dominance are linked to the spirit of George Cafego. Four chided me gently for not mentioning him in recent coverage. I listened. I can be coached.

I considered Cafego a friend. I understood that he never liked Vanderbilt. Otherwise, he was friendly, warm and genuine, a crusty man’s man.

I once wrote a story about a player the coach said needed a lift. I still have the Tennessee football Coach Cafego gave me as a thank-you.

Marvin West welcomes comments or questions from readers. His address is marvinwest75@gmail.com