ATHENS — Last week, when the Georgia Bulldogs joined the growing throng of athletes speaking out against social injustices in America, football coach Kirby Smart said he was more interested in seeing action than he was hearing words.
Turns out, the Bulldogs have produced a pretty good dose of both in the days since.
- Last Tuesday, Georgia players marched from their South Campus football complex to the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building on North Campus to hear a speech from Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes Jr. Holmes is the son Hamilton Holmes, who along with Charlayne Hunter-Gault, became the first two African American students admitted to UGA in 1961.
- On Wednesday, Georgia football players and wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton hatched the plan for “Dawgs for Pups.” It’s a fundraising initiative in which the Bulldogs are attempting to provide high-speed internet access for all the children of Athens-Clarke County and the surrounding areas who are having to attend school virtually via digital video platforms. As of Sunday evening, that fund already had raised more than $25,000.
- On Thursday, former UGA and current Atlanta Falcons running back Todd Gurley announced that his foundation — Make A Difference Every Day (M.A.D.E.) — was joining forces with the Georgia Athletic Association to organize philanthropic events to raise money for causes that support the physical, social and educational health of local youth. Gurley’s first act was to donate to the Dawgs for Pups campaign.
Former Bulldog Benjamin Watson followed Gurley’s lead and so did Georgia’s coach. The Kirby Smart Family Foundation on Friday donated $10,000 to the cause.
“It’s really taken off,” Smart said of the Dawgs for Pups initiative. “There’s going to be a lot of kids in Athens, Ga., getting Wi-Fi, and that’s a direct result of our players grabbing this initiative along with Cortez.”
Also, two weeks ago, former Georgia and current Detroit Lions star quarterback Matthew Stafford pledged $1.5 million to UGA to fund social justice and diversity initiatives, as well scholarships for students in need.
“Just trying to figure out what the best way to make an impact is,” Stafford told ESPN. “We’ve done some work here in the Detroit area and wanted to do some work back where we spent our college years. Obviously, Georgia was thinking about starting this program, and we were obviously extremely happy to be a part of it.”
It’s not as though Georgia players weren’t doing anything before. The Bulldogs already had been volunteering regularly with the Northeast Georgia Food Bank and a few other local charities the last several years. And they have always spoken on the regular with elementary and middle-school children at schools, which they are continuing this semester via Zoom calls by position groups.
But Smart said the Bulldogs are planning even more altruistic efforts in the near future.
“It’s something our kids were expressing the day after the NBA boycotts,” Smart said during a video conference call with reporters Saturday. “So many of them wanted to use their platform — ’there’s more we can do, Coach’ — and use their impact more and make change. And you make change with action.”
Encouraging players to speak up might seem a bit counterintuitive for Smart. He has exerted much energy his four-plus years in Athens to keep his players and coaches quiet. He has closely followed the Nick Saban “one voice, one message” communication plan. That is, he does not allow assistant coaches to talk to the media (with the exception of the coordinators at the beginning of each preseason camp), freshmen are never allowed to be interviewed, even if they’re major contributors on the field of play, and only team members of the coach-appointed leadership committee are made available at regularly scheduled media events.
Smart also has been restrictive of what players are allowed to post on their personal social media channels during his tenure. Senior linebacker Monty Rice pointed that out with a Twitter message he posted online after some UGA players were told to delete their comments about the Wisconsin police shooting of Jacob Blake.
“When we agreed with them on playing (football during the pandemic), it was no problem for us to speak up. But when we speak up on this BS going on, it’s ‘shut up and tackle!’ ” Rice wrote.
When we agreed with them on playing it was no problem for us to speak up, but when we speak up on this Bs going on it’s shut up and tackle!
— Monty Rice (@RiceMonty) August 26, 2020
The next day, Georgia coaches and players met to discuss the situation. The Blacks Lives Matter movement and other social injustice causes that are being discussed and protested on college campuses appear to have changed Smart’s tune in that regard. Now, he says, Georgia players are encouraged to speak their minds in public forums.
“I think the most important thing is for our players to be heard and to be understood,” Smart said Saturday. “We believe in education and action. We want to educate our players every way possible in the proper ways for them to take action and for them to understand how they can bring about change.”
Change definitely appears afoot at Georgia.
About the Author
