Top Dawgs Returning For Senior Season

FOOTBALL

Georgia football coach Mark Richt confirmed Friday that no other Georgia players will leave early for the NFL draft. Tight end Orson Charles announced earlier this week that he will forgo his senior season.

“Today is great day for Georgia,” Richt said. “We have a lot of good news today. Quite a few guys submitted papers for the draft to see if it was time to make the decision to fulfill their dream of playing in the NFL. These men decided to stay at Georgia. This group of players has tremendous leadership and talent and has played some tremendous football in the Southeastern Conference. I am thrilled that they have made this decision.”

Among those returning for their senior season is safety Bacarri Rambo, who started all 13 game for the Dawgs, registering 55 tackles, including 34 solo tops. He also led the SEC with eight interceptions, returning one for a touchdown.

“It means a lot to come back and play with these guys next year,” Rambo said. “Many of these guys gave up their dream of playing in the NFL just to come back. We have a lot of leaders and a lot of really talented players with experience coming back next year. We have guys who are going to go out there and work hard and help lead the young guys and show them the Georgia way. I’m really excited to play with these guys one more year.”

“Every man in this room came to Georgia with dreams and goals of winning championships,” added cornerback Sanders Commings. “That is the reason that I decided to stay here at Georgia. With the leadership in this room we realized that the opportunity of achieving those dreams are great and I am excited to be able to be a part of it.”

Carlton Thomas, who finished the season with 361 yards and two touchdowns, added that the decision to return for his senior year was a team decision.

“Coming back was really a team decision,” Thomas added. “You see all of this talent coming back. There is lot of up side to the defensive side of the ball and we still have a lot of talent on the offense. We’re coming back with maturity, experience and a lot to prove. Why not come back and get what everyone came here to get, a championship? Everyone wanted to come back for the team and to finish business.”

Junior snapper Ty Frix noted that as a lifelong Georgia fan, he is excited about next season and the chance to continue to be a part of the Dawg community.

“I think we want to win,” Frix said. “I think that is why everyone wanted to come back. You can look at last season and say it didn’t end well as it could have or didn’t start well as it should have, but we had a great year. We did a lot of things that a lot of people didn’t think we could do and we won a lot more games than people thought we should have. I think we will build off of that going into next season. If we don’t win, then these guys stayed for no reason. These guys buying in keeps everyone accountable and it’s going to make winning that much more attainable.”