Douglas (Doug) Padgett

Douglas (Doug) Padgett is the third member of the

Rutherford County triumvirate that played for Duke football in the

1950s to be enshrined into the RCSHOF. He joins fellow RCSHOF

members Dr. Wade Byrd and Bert Lattimore in receiving the honor.

“It’s a great honor, pure and simple,” Padgett said of being inducted

into the RCSHOF. “Honestly, I am flabbergasted.”

Born in 1936 in Spindale, Padgett was a natural athlete, but set his

eyes toward the skies from an early age.

“My uncle Joe Hart was a pilot in World War II,” Padgett remembers. “I

saw the jacket and the wings, and I knew that’s what I wanted to do.”

That goal of becoming a pilot helped to shape Padgett’s athletic

future, as well.

“I played basketball and football at R-S, and I was recruited by different

schools for each sport,” Padgett said. “I was better at football, and

Duke was the only school that recruited me that had an Air Force

ROTC program, so that’s where I went.”

Padgett recounts a humorous story centering around his recruiting

visit to Duke.

“Bill Lewis was a big Duke fan from Rutherfordton, and he took Bert

and me to see the campus. We left so late in the day, we decided to

spend the night in Gastonia. We stopped at a not-so-upscale hotel.

There was only one regular-sized bed that Bert and I had to share.

Neither one of us got any sleep that night.”

After graduating from R-S Central in 1954, Padgett enrolled at Duke.

He was a Wide Receiver on some of the most successful Blue Devil

teams in program history. Padgett was a member of the 1957-58

Duke football team that played #4 Oklahoma in the prestigious

Orange Bowl.

Injuries limited Padgett to just 20 games on the gridiron for the Blue

Devils. He played in 10 games in 1956, catching two passes for 14 yards.

Padgett was drafted in the Spring of 1958 by the Baltimore Colts, but

turned down the chance to play professionally to continue his career at Duke.

That fall, he was more productive, garnering nine receptions for 112 yards and

a touchdown, Padgett’s performance in 1958 was good enough to

earn him an invite to the Blue-Gray College All-Star game held on Christmas Day

in Montgomery, Alabama. Padgett graduated from Duke in June of 1959 and was

commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, and later that year, went to pilot

training school. For five years after graduation from flight school, Padgett flew B-52

bombers.

“The main mission for our squadron was to carry nuclear weapons

to patrol the world,” Padgett said. “I have logged over 50 flights that

were over 24 hours long.”

In 1966, Padgett began working as a pilot for Delta Airlines and

also joined the Georgia Air National Guard. He worked as a pilot

for Delta for 30 years before transitioning to an instructor, retiring in

2021. Padgett also rose through the ranks of the reserves, reaching

Brigadier General, a position he held from 1991 to 1996. Now retired,

Padgett lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia, but he enjoys returning

home to Rutherford County several times a year to have lunch with

the “Spindale Folks” group.