LOS ANGELES — The night that Buffalo’s Damar Hamlin collapsed in the middle of a football game in Cincinnati, Kirby Smart received a phone call. It was from Ron Courson, Georgia’s director of sports medicine.
“He reached out to me, the mental health specialists and also our team chaplain,” Smart shared this week. “So many of our kids are believers in Jesus Christ. So, they were concerned. You start asking questions, ‘If you play, could this happen to me?’ We did education the next morning, first thing in.”
Courson led two seminars the next day, one for two groups. He shared what he knew about exactly what had happened, information about the odds of it happening and what needs to happen if it does.
Most important, Courson reassured the team that the very same care being credited for saving Hamlin’s life was immediately available to them at Georgia’s football facility and on the sidelines with them at every game.
“That specific injury actually happens more often in baseball and hockey than football. It’s rare in football,” said Smart, who is leading the Bulldogs into Monday night’s national championship game. “We have a mental health specialist, if anybody wanted to meet with. We said a prayer and explained to them what happened and how fast they reacted to save his life.”
While there may have been contributing factors, all that’s known is Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a routine tackle. Doctors later said what saved Hamlin’s life was immediate recognition of loss of pulse by Buffalo’s medical staff and the application of CPR.
The Bulldogs were reassured that the same expertise and equipment is close by for them at every practice and game.
The whole episode especially resonated with Georgia’s Javon Bullard. A couple of days earlier, Ohio State receiver Marvin Harrison was left concussed after a hit by Bullard in the second half of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. Harrison was OK but did not return to play in observance of concussion protocol rules.
“Probably one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen, not knowing if someone’s gonna make it on a football field,” Bullard said of watching Hamlin’s situation unfold.
“They did a great job there, the Buffalo organization, to save his life,” Smart said. “We just want our kids to feel comfortable with it. I’m glad that I had people on my staff who came to me to say we need to address it. It brought a lot of peace to the players.”
Adonai Mitchell raring for more
Georgia wideout Adonai Mitchell was laughing about it this weekend, but the way his sophomore season went down was anything but funny. One of the stars of the Bulldogs’ national championship win over Alabama last year, nobody expected bigger things in 2022 than Mitchell himself.
Instead, he was injured in the second game of the season and basically spent the rest of the year trying to get back. Of course, he finally did and just in the nick of time.
Mitchell scored the game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard pass from Stetson Bennett with 54 seconds remaining in the Peach Bowl. The Bulldogs hung on to beat Ohio State 42-41 and advance to Los Angeles for the championship.
For Mitchell, it was the third consecutive playoff game in which he scored a touchdown. He also hauled in a TD pass against Michigan in the 2021 Orange Bowl.
“I didn’t even know that to me until somebody sent me something on that recently,” said Mitchell, a 6-foot-4, 190-pound sophomore from Missouri City, Texas. “I don’t really pay attention to that kind of stuff. I play in the moment.”
Mitchell had only 43 yards on three catches against the Buckeyes, but he was targeted a team-high seven times and played almost the entire game. That’s something he hadn’t done since the opener against Oregon, when he had five catches for 73 yards and a touchdown.
Mitchell enters the season’s final game with only eight catches. That’s far different from the picture he had in mind at the beginning of the season.
“Everything happens for a reason,” Mitchell said. “Over here at Georgia, we’ve got a next-man-up mentality, so no matter who goes down, we’re always counting on the guy who replaces him. My brothers had my back this whole year.”
Amarius Mims holding the line
Nobody’s saying whether Amarius Mims is going to start at right tackle for the Bulldogs on Monday night. But, asked how the sophomore from Cochran performed in his first career start – which happened to come against Ohio State – Georgia offensive line coach Stacy Searels scrolled through his phone to show a reporter a screen shot of the highest-graded players in the national semifinals.
There was Mims’ name on the all-semifinal team assimilated by Pro Football Focus (PFF). They gave Mims an 81.2 for his performance against the Buckeyes. Searels wouldn’t say how he scored it, but he was clearly pleased with the results.
“He played really well, he did,” Searels said this weekend. “Ohio State had some outstanding defensive ends, and they didn’t come in and wreck the game, and I thought Amarius played very well.”
The Buckeyes registered two sacks against Georgia. Mims was indirectly involved in one but was not the primary cause of it.
That was great news for the Bulldogs, who played without longtime starter Warren McClendon at right tackle for the first time in three seasons. The junior from Brunswick has been a block of granite for Georgia at the position, recording 37 consecutive starts before going out in the first half of the SEC Championship game with a sprained knee.
McClendon warmed up but did not play in the semifinals. Nine days removed from that game and 37 days after suffering the injury, McClendon could play Monday and wants to play.
“Both guys will be able to play in this one,” Searels said.
Neither Mims nor McClendon was sure how it will go down during the game. They rotated all season, with McClendon starting and Mims subbing for him in 12 of the first 13 games. McClendon has made a point all season to help Mims learn the position as his eventual replacement.
“Not even just that game, ever since I’ve been here and really a recruit, Warren has been helping me,” Mims said. “I’ve been knowing Warren since I was a sophomore in high school. Nothing’s changed. We compete with each other, so people might not expect that. But he has stuck by my side and been with me whenever I’ve needed help, so I’m there for him, too.”
California connection
Georgia’s trip to L.A. was a welcome relief for a handful of players’ parents. The Bulldogs have more players than ever on their roster from the West Coast. There are nine, including recent signees from California and Nevada.
Those parents usually have to venture east across the country to see their kids play. This time, the game is coming to them.
“It’s definitely a crazy feeling; I haven’t played here since high school,” said junior running back Kendall Milton, who hails from Fresno, Calif. “Being close to family and being somewhere that they can just drive to the game to see me play means a lot. They’re used to the four-hour flights across the country. It definitely means a lot.”
Georgia offensive lineman Earnest Greene played high school ball just 15 miles from SoFi Stadium at St. John Bosco. Nobody’s closer than junior wideout Nathan Priestley. He played at Loyola High, which is 8 miles away.
Alas, none of them will get to go home during this trip. It’s all business up until kickoff and through the game. Meanwhile, spring semester gets underway Monday. That means classes Tuesday.
Also, tight end Brock Bowers is from Napa, Calif., tight end Darnell Washington hails from Las Vegas and cornerback Kelee Ringo was born in Tacoma, Wash., and finished high school in Saguaro, Ariz. Georgia Class of 2023 signees Roderick Robinson (Imperial, Calif.) and Chris Peal (Las Vegas) are both West Coasters, and the Bulldogs got a commitment just this week from Peyton Woodyard, a four-star defensive back from Bellflower, Calif., in suburban L.A.
