Thirty years ago, famed coach Erk Russell delivered one of the greatest moral lessons of all time in Statesboro, Ga.

Russell was famous for his creativity, and for winning. As Georgia's defensive coordinator from 1964-80, he came up with several traditions that remain popular today. In 1975, he described the scrappy Bulldogs defense as the "Junkyard Dawgs," getting the school's Redcoat Marching Band director to play parts of Jim Croce's Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, which included the lyric, "Badder than old King Kong, meaner than a Junkyard Dog," during games after a stellar defensive play.

The bald-headed Russell, also famous for head-butting players until his head would bleed, came up with additional phrases like "One More Time," "TEAM me," and "G.A.T.A," a take off of the Georgia Tech Athletic Association acronym. Erk's G.A.T.A translated to Get After Their (Butts).

Russell left Georgia after his defense, along with a freshman running back named Herschel Walker, helped lead the Bulldogs to the 1980 national championship. A year later, Russell resurrected the Georgia Southern football, which was dormant for four decades. In the Eagles' second season in 1985, they won the Division I-AA championship. Georgia Southern added two more titles in the Erk era, claiming championships in 1986 and 1989.

In 1986, Russell gave his players a lesson they would never forget - and it had nothing to do with football. During the summer that year, star basketball player Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose two days after getting drafted second by the Boston Celtics. Less than two weeks later, Cleveland Browns safety Don Rogers also died from a cocaine overdose. With drug use in the national spotlight, Russell found a unique way to get across his message at a team meeting early in the season.

After the entire football team crowded into a small room, Russell brought in a friend carrying a box. According to former Georgia Southern player Ross Worsham (you can read the full story at coolcatchristian.com), Russell had his assistant coaches lock the doors. After the man placed the box in the middle of the room, Russell removed the snake from the box with a handling stick. The snake rattled and hissed as the frightened players backed away as far as they could.

After a few moments, the snake was put back in the box. Russell made his point.

A year later, Russell talked about the tale for a story now at newsok.com

"They wanted to get out of that room," he said then about his players. "I told 'em, "When that white stuff (cocaine) comes into a room, you're not nearly as apt to leave as when that rattlesnake comes in. Look, they'll both kill you. If that white stuff comes into a room, you get out of there like it's a rattlesnake because it is!' "

Russell recalled the story in a 1998 interview with The Augusta Chronicle.

"That's the point I wanted to get across," he said. "If they ever saw drugs around, I wanted them to leave the room."

"In football, like in life, you've got to do what you've got to do to get the job done. I've always believed that. Football is still football, it's a game of tackling and blocking and competitive people. Every time I told a joke or told a story or pulled a stunt, there had to be a moral behind it."

The world needs more rattlesnake speeches when it comes to drugs.

I get tired of telling my kids about famous entertainers dying of drug overdoses. Hannah and I watched the final Hunger Games movie together earlier this year. I explained to her that the movie had to be slightly altered after the talented actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee in the film series), exited stage left because of a drug overdose.

The world needs more Erk Russells, too. He died a decade ago at age 80, but his legacy remains alive and well. He was a great football coach. He was a great motivational speaker. He was a great human being.

Enjoy time with your family and friends this Thanksgiving week. Enjoy eating way too much, watching football and playing games.

And if you learn about anyone doing drugs, make sure you GATA.