Fatherly advice....

Fatherly advice: Dungy's words hit home for Wilson

By ROGER CLARKSON | roger.clarkson@onlineathens.com | Story updated at 11:23 pm on 3/18/2009

Uga Sports Communications

Former Indianpolis Colts coach Tony Dungy sits beside Georgia coach Mark Richt on Wednesday.

Former Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy came to Georgia's camp to talk about fatherhood. He found a more than willing listener in Tony Wilson.

Wilson, a junior wide receiver, already has a 2-year-old son and Dungy's words hit him where he lives.

"It dawned on me how important being a father was when I found out my son's mom was pregnant," Wilson said. "I had one of two choices, either man up and take care of my responsibilities or tuck my tail between and run off. Like they say, 'It takes a boy to lay down and make a baby, but it takes a man to raise it.' "

Dungy came to Georgia's football offices to address the team before Wednesday's practice and announce the program All Pro Dads' introduction onto college campuses, beginning with Georgia.

"It's makes a big impact because I grew up without a father in my life," Wilson said. "It was really hard to learn the morals of being a man without a father in your life. When he came in to speak today, he had my undivided attention."

Wilson has a 2-year-old son named Tony Wilson Jr. When Wilson found out about the pregnancy, he spent several sessions talking with Georgia coach Mark Richt about being a father.

"Just about every opportunity Coach Richt has, he brings out guys to talk to us about the importance of being a father," Wilson said. "It may not take effect today or tomorrow, but it will later on down the road. It makes a difference when you hear somebody like Coach Richt or Coach Dungy telling you to take care of your responsibilities and become a man."

Dungy helped launch All Pro Dads in 1997 when he was coaching at Tampa Bay. He saw a need for fathers to spend more time with their children and that football was a good way to do it. The organization has grown to at least 1,200 chapters in 48 states. It has been affiliated almost exclusively with professional football teams but on Wednesday announced its first foray into college ranks starting at Georgia.

"There's something about football that men like," Dungy said. "If we can take this energy, this football fan energy, and channel it into being a better dad, we might have something going."

All Pro Dads and Georgia will hold an event on campus on a date yet to be specified. The event will give fathers a chance to spend time with their kids with football as a backdrop.

"We've grown primarily in NFL cities. We thought that the University of Georgia would be a great place to start," Dungy said. "I've known Coach Richt for a long time. I've worked with him and we feel that this is the ideal place. The University of Georgia has really come on board and their support is tremendous. There are a lot of dads who are interested in college football and it's also important to get on campus because there are a lot of young men who are either contemplating being dads or are dads already and we need to get them some tools to be better fathers."

Georgia coach Mark Richt has always run a family-friendly program. It's not uncommon to find coaches children roaming the football offices after hours when the team has social gatherings.

"We're dead serious about helping our players," Richt said. "We want our student-athletes to grow into wonderful husbands and wonderful fathers and tremendous citizens in our community. We're constantly plating seeds in young men's lives.

Kicking it with Georgia's Jeff Owens

This is a story I did with Chris Low from ESPN on this past Wednesday.

Georgia's Jeff Owens was like any other Bulldog a year ago. He couldn't wait for the season to begin. Jeff Owens is hoping to bounce back from a torn ACL. The Bulldogs were ranked No. 1 in the country, and Owens was one of the anchors of the defense from his tackle position. He was primed for a big senior season.
But in the first quarter of the opener against Georgia Southern, his season was over. He tore the ACL in his right knee while running to make a play. He jumped over a player, landed awkwardly on his right knee -- and just like that -- was done for the season. Because Owens hadn't previously redshirted, he was eligible to return to Georgia for the 2009 season and elected to do so rather than test the NFL waters. Projected as a high NFL draft pick before his injury, Owens will team with Geno Atkins to give Georgia the best tackle tandem in the SEC. Owens is still working his way back to full health, but said he's getting close. Here's my conversation with the 6-foot-3, 298-pound senior, who had started in 15 straight games before his injury and will be an integral part of the Georgia defense in 2009:

What percentage are you right now coming off that knee injury?
Jeff Owens: I'd have to say I'm about 75 or 80 percent, around that area. I'm doing close to everything. I'm running now, and that's a big plus. I'm getting my strength back, and everything is coming along well.

How difficult was last season, especially watching the defense struggle at times?
JO: It was rough; your senior year and you get hurt and you know you could have helped your teammates out there. But you've got to bounce back and weather the storm. Injuries always happen. They happen every year, and it unfortunately happened to me. It wasn't just me, either. We had a lot of guys get hurt last year.

When was it the hardest for you?
JO: When they'd get ready to go on the road and I couldn't travel with the team. I'd just have to sit back at home and watch. That hurt me more than you will know. I think it was the lowest point in my life so far. I knew I just had to have the courage to get back out there and work hard. There's nothing fun about rehabbing an ACL tear.

With you and Geno in the middle, what are you guys capable of on the defensive line next season?
JO: I see big things. We've got a lot of potential up front. We're back, and we're going to be 100 percent healthy. We've also got Kade Weston. He's going to be healthy, and don't forget about DeAngelo Tyson. He played a lot last year as a true freshman. We have a lot of talent, and I think there's going to be a lot of competition. Guys are going to compete, and we're going to get better week in and week out.

What's critical for this defense in 2009?
JO: It's still early, but one of the things I'll be looking for is that we just can't give up the big plays like we did last year. We gave up like 38 big plays last year, and that's too many. If you're going to be a great defense, you've got to minimize the big plays.

What are your individual goals, and what areas have you concentrated on?
JO: Just getting healthy and getting back 100 percent mainly. But I want to be better with hand placement and working on my technique and fundamentals and trying to be more of a student of the game.

Was there something in the water with all the injuries Georgia suffered last year?
JO: After one guy went down, it just kept going like it was a cycle. It was like, 'Who's going to be next?' It was like the movie, "Friday the 13th." Who's he going after next?

Will you be stronger as a team because you battled through all those injuries last year?
JO: We know what we have to do. It takes all of us to be successful, all 11 on defense. It can't just be one unit. We all have to be great if we're going to have the kind of success we want.

You recently started a blog -- Jeff Owens: The Real Deal -- that's heavy on Georgia football. You even interview some of your teammates. How did that get started?
JO: I just wanted to let everybody know the truth about Georgia football. Everybody wants to know the insides and outsides, and you always hear rumors about this guy or that guy. I figured I'd let everybody know the truth.

What kind of response have you gotten?
JO: It's been good. I got 1,000 hits in one day. It's important to me to let people know what it means to wear the "G" and the stuff we go through as student-athletes in our daily lives.

What gave you the idea?
JO: I saw one of my friends had one, and that gave me the initial idea. One day after football, I plan on being a sports talk show host like Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN, so this is good training.

With Matthew Stafford and Knowshon Moreno both gone, there won't be the kind of lofty expectations for the Bulldogs next season as there were a year ago. How will that impact the team?
JO: I like being the underdog. When you're the underdog, you're gunning for teams. When you're that team, everybody's gunning for you

Q and A with Trinton Sturdivant...

1. When is your Birthday? 01/18/1989

2. What High school did you go to? Anson High School (North Carolina)

3. What is your major? Finance

4. What is your favorite restaurant to eat in Athens? Peking’s Chinese Restaurant

5. What are you favorite colors? Krimson and Kream, of course!

6. Do you plan on staying in Georgia after college? I’ll most likely stay in Georgia unless I get the privilege to get drafted into the National Football League.

7. What's your favorite vacation spot? Los Angeles, California.

8. Who are some of your best friends on the team? Mostly the O-line and D-line.

9. Who inspires you the most? My Family (my mom, sister, and brother)

10. What is your favorite song (hip hop/R&B/Soul/Country/Gospel/Jazz)? “I Told the Storm” by Kirk Franklin

11. If you could change one thing about yourself physically, what would it be? I want to have abs! Lol.

12. What is your favorite movie? Roots

13. What do you like to do for fun? I like to chill with my family.

14. What's your favorite meal to eat? I love citrus fish or just baked fish with seasoning, Green Giant corn, corn bread, black-eyed peas, green beans, and some cabbage.

15. What size shoe do you wear? 13

16. Why did you choose UGA? It was the closest team to my home that had a chance at the National Championship.

17. What's your proudest moment at UGA? It has to be “The Celebration” in Jacksonville, Florida.

18. What cell-phone service do you have? Sprint

19. What's your fondest childhood memory? My greatest memory is having my mom at all of my football games at all school levels.

20. What other city could you see yourself living? Anywhere in Florida!

21. What is your favorite Dessert? Cheesecake

22. If you could dream up your dream mate what would she look like? A beautiful lady that is around 5’2 or 5 ’3 and around 130 lbs; light skin with silky hair with a degree! Lol.

23. What is your greatest fear? Snakes

24. What is your greatest accomplishment in life? Becoming a freshman All-American.

25. Where are the top 3 spring break places you would love to visit? Miami, Florida; Kenya, Africa; Paris, France

26. Who is your favorite male actor? Female actress? Will Smith and Jennifer Hudson

27. If there were one woman you could marry, who would it be? Jada Pickett (Yo-Skee!)

28. What's your favorite reality show? I Love New York

My top five All-Time UGA Players.......

Someone asked me the other day who were my top five all-time favorite players from UGA. I had never thought about it until then, but my all time favorite player has to be Hershel Walker. I believe that he is one of the greatest players to ever play college football. I did not know much about Hershel Walker until I came to UGA, but everyone was always talking about Hershel Walker. I watched his highlights for the first time during my official visit to UGA. I was amazed to see how he ran over people. I had never seen a running back like that before. He was also the second player in school history to win the Heisman Trophy.

My second favorite UGA player of all-time greatest is Knowshown Moreno. I’m not being biased just because I played three years with him, but he is the best running back I have ever played with. In 2005 when he came to the UGA camp, he was the best back at the camp. I did not know he would make an impact like the way he did, but he was a beast the first day he put pads on! In 2006 fall camp, I gave him a solid hit to welcome him to college football. But he took it all in stride. In the past three years, I've seen him do some amazing things. During every Thursday practice, he would practice in a weight vest and run around like he had nothing on. I've seen him do 360’s on the basketball court and I've seen him run over defensive lineman. Knowshown is a freak of nature. He can make a 2 yard run look amazing. The things he does on the field are awesome he will probably go down as one the greatest athletes to play at UGA.

My third all-time favorite Bulldog is David Pollack- another freak of nature. I consider him to be the best defensive end to play college football. He was a three time All-American. He played the game with so much emotion and passion. His motor would never stop and he always played 100% on every snap. When I first wore the “G” I wanted to mimic David Pollack. I wanted to study him and become a great player like him.

My fourth all-time favorite Bulldogs is Champ Bailey. He is the only player in UGA history to play over a 100 snaps in one game. He wasn't just a corner back at Georgia but he also was a slot receiver, and a kick-off and punt returner. I really did not see a lot of Bailey’s games in college but I watch him a lot in the NFL.

My fifth all-time favorite Bulldog was a very hard choice. I did not know who to choose because there have been so many great players to come through this program. So, I decided to limit myself to the players that I’ve played with. To me, the fifth greatest player is Greg Blue. I got the opportunity to play with Greg Blue my freshman year. I saw him run through people. In practice, the coach would not let him tackle because they feared he would hurt someone. I remember my first time seeing him hit somebody in a game. It was in 2005 against Boise State. When he stopped the guy in his tracks, the crowd screamed his name “Blueee!” Another one of his greatest hits was against Vandy. He caught the guy in mid air and power-bombed him to the ground. Greg Blue was never afraid of contact. He said that is what separates you from all of the other players.

It was hard to come up with just five players because UGA has had hundreds of athletes who could have made this list. By choosing the five that I did, I by no means want to take anything away from any of the other athletes who have worn the “G”. For those of you who follow my blog, please feel free to comment on who your favorite Bulldog of all-time is and why…and don’t feel like you have to limit it to football. We’re all a part of Bulldog Nation!

BULLDOG BARD: Football player 'sacks stereotypes,' will study at Oxford

Watch out, Shakespeare - there's a 300-pound defensive lineman headed your way.

Georgia defensive tackle Ricardo Crawford is headed to Oxford, England, this summer to study Shakespeare and English lit at its source, and he's sacking stereotypes at the same time.

"It was kind of a spur of the moment thing," said Crawford, a redshirt sophomore. "I was like, 'Me? Study abroad?' When they asked me I was really, really shocked."

Crawford has a GPA of 2.97, and the cutoff for eligibility for Oxford is 3.0. But he came highly recommended.

"Ricardo has embraced the whole college experience and refuses to be defined or limited by his role as an athlete," said Ted White, Director of the Rankin Smith Academic Center for Student-Athletes. "He'll be a terrific ambassador for the University."

When Crawford departs for his two-week stint in England on June 13, the native of Fair Bluff, N.C will be leaving the country for the first time in his life, but he'll be prepared. Despite being officially listed as a housing major, Crawford said he's studied Shakespeare in the past, and get this - he writes his own poetry, too.

"I have a notebook of about 40 to 50 poems," Crawford said. "I've been writing since sophomore year of high school ... They're about everything. About friends, family, death, sadness, some evil, love. It's more family, love, about past girlfriends, future wives, and being lonely, stuff like that. It's a mixture of everything."

Crawford said he's shown the book of poetry to a few Georgia football players, including receiver Kris Durham, a former roommate.

"He's got a notebook just full of them," Durham said. "He's got some talent. I don't know if that's what he's going to pursue, but he's not too bad ... He's come a long way since we got here."

Though Crawford said succeeding in school (he's on schedule to graduate in December and plans to pursue a Master's degree) and going abroad were two of his life goals, he's still got at least one more to get accomplished.

"I told my best friend, when I die, I want you to do this one thing," he said. "I'm going to put in my will to give my poems to you, and I want you to publish all of my poems for the people to know who Ricardo was and what Ricardo thought."

Who knows what Ricardo will be thinking the first time he sets foot on English soil, or the first time an Oxford professor catches a glimpse of his 6-foot-1, 300-pound frame. But if it's anything like the reaction around Georgia's campus or in the Crawford home, it will be all positive.

Said Crawford: "I really wish my grandmother was here so I could tell her, but I'm pretty sure she's looking down on me, and she's smiling from ear to ear."



By. Tyler Estep