David Greene knows he will be asked, in various forms, all afternoon. And that’s fine. He’s ready for it.
Who will be Georgia’s starting quarterback this season? Greene, the quarterback with the most wins in school history, said he doesn’t know, but fans will ask it anyway Saturday afternoon at the annual Countdown to Kickoff event he helps host at Sanford Stadium.
“It’s certainly a question that’s on everybody’s mind right now, and rightfully so,” Greene said Thursday. “We know in college football, especially the SEC, your season is really going to live and die with your quarterback play.”
Two of the candidates for the job, Faton Bauta and Brice Ramsey, may be among the players at Saturday’s event, which allows paying fans to meet current and former Bulldogs. This marks the 10th year of the Countdown to Kickoff, organized and hosted by Greene and the Stinchcomb brothers — Matt and Jon.
This is the second year the event has been at Sanford Stadium. It will be from noon-3 p.m., with players at different stations and available for autographs, a hand shake and a conversation. There also are vendors who have food and drinks, and some play equipment for kids.
The cost for an individual ticket is $25, and a family-pack ticket (four tickets and refreshments) is $75. All proceeds go to the Georgia Transplant Foundation and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Greene estimated they’ve raised more than $1.2 million through this event over the past decade.
Greene had such a long career as Georgia’s starter that it gets forgotten that he was in a fierce battle with Cory Phillips before the 2001 season. Phillips started five games the previous season, while Greene was coming off a redshirt year. He won the job and remained the starter for the next four seasons.
Based on his experience, Greene said the key for each quarterback is to a) worry about themselves, rather than what the other quarterbacks are doing, b) focus on the team, rather than the competition.
“That was one of the things that helped me when I was going through the quarterback battle, and I think (D.J. Shockley) did as well,” Greene said, referring to his successor. “You’ve gotta put your own agenda and your own wishes aside because you’re playing a team game, and you’ve gotta constantly be thinking about what can I do to help our football team be better. If you have that mindset it takes a lot of the individual pressure off of you.”
Greene hasn’t seen Greyson Lambert, the transfer from Virginia, play, but has heard good things. He has watched Bauta and Ramsey in practice and in the G-Day. Ultimately, Greene opined, the Bulldogs should be fine whoever gets the job.
“I know we’ve got a good running game; we’ve got probably the best running back in the country,” Greene said. “But at the same time you’ve got to be able to throw the football and you’ve got to have the threat of throwing the football. So we’ve gotta have good quarterback play.”
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