Paul Oliver: Remembering a Former Dawg

Monica Kalousek, Athens: A former UGA defensive back was confirmed dead this morning. Though Paul Oliver isn’t a household name, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t had a profound impact on bulldog nation. We talked to family friends about Paul’s life as a dawg.

He did it as a Charger, but he started as a Dawg. Interceptions were Paul Oliver’s specialty on the field, but he made his biggest impact off of it. Kelin Johnson said that, “Paul was a great teammate. He was one of those guys that led by example. He was a leader most importantly. He was a guy of not many words, but those words… whenever he spoke, everybody listened.”

Fans, teammates, and fellow athletes took to Twitter today to talk about him. The tweets paid tribute to his on the field play as well as his personality. Johnson told us that Oliver had taken some time off to be a family man. “He took some time off last year to be with his family, to be with his kids. Things like that.” Oliver’s high school coach Bruce Cobleigh said that, ” He was a great kid, a hard worker. He always seemed happy. (This) is really a shock.”

Johnson couldn’t confirm Oliver’s cause of death earlier, but he said it’s still sensistive for everyone. Several other media outlets have reported it as a suicide. The fact of the matter is that everybody had nothing but great things to say about Paul Oliver.