NATA Presidents
Thomas "Fitz" Lutz
1954
When Thomas "Fitz" Lutz was head athletic trainer at Georgia, he was instrumental in saving a season for the star of the team and keeping the Bulldogs rolling through "The Golden Era" of great Georgia teams. Lutz, who served at Georgia from 1938 to 1942, invented and patented a special face mask for the Bulldogs' star, Frankie Sinkwich, enabling him to play the entire season with a fractured jaw. Lutz eventually became the Baltimore Colts head athletic trainer for three seasons before coming to the University of North Carolina in 1950. Lutz died four years later in Chapel Hill at the age of 44. He was inducted into the NATA Hall of Fame in 1962.