How does the University of Georgia land a decorated high school quarterback from the state of Washington? They are 2,724 miles apart.
Jacob Eason’s father, Tony Eason, told the story to the AJC:
“The first conversation … was when my nephew and Jake’s cousin, T.J. Conley, punted for the New York Jets in 2011. He said the closest league to the NFL was the SEC … And then just the chaos and fanatics that they have down there in the South — for the religion that they call college football. It is really something that Jacob is drawn to. It’s his passion. He loves it to death. People up here like their football, too. But not like down there in the South.
“Georgia has a great track record with Matt Stafford and what they’ve done with their quarterbacks. Coach Richt was a quarterback himself. That was important to me to have a head coach that played the position of quarterback. I just think he sees things through a different eye …
“So we were blessed and fortunate that Jacob got to see a lot of places on unofficial visits (last summer) — Notre Dame and Stanford, along with Washington and Oregon State. Then we did the South trip, and he got to see Alabama and FSU. The last stop was Dawg Night (last July), and that trip was very strategically placed in my opinion. I say that because it was the last stop. … We jumped in a golf cart with (former UGA assistant Mike) Bobo, and it’s backfiring and he’s cussing. It was funny. The guy was great. He gave us a tour of campus at 10:30 at night. Jacob is grinning from ear to ear. I can read my kid pretty good when he’s really enjoying himself and feeling at home. The minute he stepped on that campus, I think he was feeling that.
“I know talk-radio is everywhere, but when we’re coming into Georgia, they are talking about Jacob on radio. It’s just like ‘wow.’ Here’s a 16-year-old sophomore from Washington, and they are talking about him in Georgia. He just thought that was pretty neat. You know, sometimes the stars line up and everything just clicks. It was a great family feeling when we toured Georgia. There wasn’t one red flag from the academics to the dorms to the student life to the chaplain to the weight room. You name it, and Georgia hit a home run on every one. So (his wife) Christine and I talked, and we didn’t see any reason why we should say no. The only negative was the distance. We’re going to have to put him on a plane, and we’re going to have to get on a plane to go see a game.”
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