The World Cup’s over, and the Barves—let’s face it—are pretty mediocre. But never fear, sports fans! Football season is right around the corner.
The Bulldogs started fall practice today, but before they did, they opened the Buttsmear doors to the media, even us unsavory alt-weekly types. Here are a few highlights from the press conference.
Coach Mark Richt on linebacker Davin Bellamy’s DUI arrest:
“Bellamy made a mistake. It’s stupid. He knows it. He’s remorseful. But he’s not a bad person. I think that if everybody is really gut-level honest with themselves and they think about their lives from 18–22 and things they might have done, if they went to college and did something maybe they didn’t get caught doing—people don’t do what they’re supposed to do. Why? I don’t know. Adults don’t do what they’re supposed to do. It happens at all levels of society.
“I don’t like that you made the mistake, but I’d rather you make the mistake now and learn from it than when you’re 30 years old, married with kids, have a job, and something like that happens to you, and you lose your job, and maybe lose your marriage.”
What’s not OK for players to post on social media?
“I don’t want to get into specifics, but anything that might offend my wife. That’s a pretty good start right there.”
Receiver Chris Conley on his Star Wars fan film, Retribution:
“When we put the pads back on get back on the field, I think people will realize what it is. It’s one of the reasons I’m here at Georgia. It’s one of the things I love to do. The filmmaking stuff is just me being a student. So now it’s about time to be an athlete again.”
Will there ever be a sequel?
“For that, maybe, sometime down the road, but no time soon, no time soon, because it’s football time now.”
Receiver Michael Bennett on whether he watched former teammate Josh Murray on “The Bachelorette”:
“A little bit, I did. It was good. Honestly, I just kind of hate the show in general. I think it’s just stupid, but it was kind of cool to see Aaron [Murray]—Aaron was on it for a little bit, and then Josh won it. Yeah, I guess he’s in love now, so good for him, man.”
Should college athletes be paid, beyond tuition, room and board?
“Yeah, I think we should get paid. Maybe a stipend, like you were saying… All the money the NCAA has, they have like $500 million, they have plenty of money to dish out. Even Georgia, we are so profitable. I know not every school’s like that. People smarter than me are going to have to figure that out. But, yeah, some kind of stipend to cover all those miscellaneous costs.”
Have players brought that up to the administration?
“Nah, not really. I’m about five months from leaving, so it doesn’t really matter anymore.”
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