AUBURN, Ala. – Pat Sullivan's first varsity game at Auburn coincided with the arrival on the Plains of a young doctor who, like the future Heisman Trophy winner, would one day become a household name.
Dr. James Andrews.
In 1969, as a third-year resident at Tulane Medical School, Dr. Andrews came to Auburn to study under orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jack Hughston, a sports medicine pioneer.
"That's how I really got kicked off in the sports medicine field, learning from him," said Andrews, who learned about repairing knees from Dr. Hughston, then, thanks to his mentor's recommendation, received a fellowship at the University of Virginia to study upper extremities in 1972.
Through Dr. Hughston's friendship with Dr. Albert Trillat, chief of orthopedics at Lyon University in France, Andrews' path to becoming the world's preeminent sports orthopedic surgeon included a year studying abroad.
"The king of knee surgery in Europe," Andrews said of Dr. Trillat. In 1973, after finishing his fellowships, Dr. Andrews came back to work at Hughston Clinic in Columbus, Georgia.
"I practiced with Dr. Hughston with Auburn for 13 years," said Dr. Andrews, who more than a half century later continues his mentor's custom of wearing a sportscoat and tie on the sidelines.
"Which is something he preached all those years," Dr. Andrews said. "'I don't dress up like a coach.' That's just the way I was raised by him. He was a strict disciplinarian. He got my sports medicine career kicked off rapidly. I owe everything back to Dr. Jack Hughston."
In 1984 Dr. Andrews and Dr. Hughston opened the Hughston Sports Medicine Hospital in Columbus.
"The first sports medicine hospital maybe in the world, certainly in the United States," Dr. Andrews said.
When Auburn hosted Ole Miss on Oct. 21, Dr. Andrews was recognized on Pat Dye Field for his long association with Auburn football. To pay tribute to Dr. Andrews' contribution and impact on Auburn's program, the training room in the Woltosz Football Performance is named in his honor.
"I cherish the memories, let me tell you," said Dr. Andrews, the 2022 recipient of Auburn's Jack Meagher Award for significant contributions to society through athletics, an award Dr. Hughston received posthumously in 2005.
When Auburn hosted Mississippi State on Oct. 28, Dr. Andrews walked to the Bulldogs' sideline before the game to greet their team doctors.
"I heard somebody hollering at me from the crowd, one of our former football players from about 25 or 30 years ago. He said I operated on his knee. He told me how much he appreciated being taken care of when he played football here 30 years ago just out of the blue," Dr. Andrews said. "You run into those guys all the time. That's how rewarding it is."
The previous week, Auburn honored the 1993 Tigers for their undefeated season.
"I saw a whole slew of them that I'd taken care of and worked with," Dr. Andrews said. "By and large, Auburn has been a powerhouse in football and in other sports, too."
Dr. Andrews' appreciation for elite athletes and passion to help them traces back to his own athletic career as an SEC pole vault champion at LSU, a feat that stemmed from humble origins.
"I was from a little bitty town (Homer) in north Louisiana and I vaulted in the woods with a bamboo pole as a kid," said Dr. Andrews, who will be inducted as a competitor into the Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame's Class of 2024. "I held the state record for a long time."
Dr. Andrews' athletic scholarship covered not only his undergraduate tuition at LSU, from which he graduated in 1963, but also his tuition and expenses at LSU School of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1967.
"Didn't cost me a cent," he said. "Just from being an athlete. I'm indebted to my athletic career, believe me. It made me a better sports medicine doctor having been an athlete myself. I understand the psychology of how these guys think, a little bit, and it's helped me in taking care of them through the years."
At the conclusion of the 2023 football season, Dr. Andrews will retire from his role as Auburn football's orthopedic surgeon and medical director.
"I'm still going to be around," he said. "It's been a good ride. I'm going to miss being down on the field. It's time for me to turn it over to the younger guys like Dr. Hughston did for me."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @jeff_shearer