For weeks, the Georgia Bulldogs had been lobbying their head coach to get them to take them to the Ramsey Center for a pool day. The lobbying began during the first week of fall practice with players singing “We’re going to the Ramsey” to help persuade their coach into going to Ramsey. Head coach Mark Richt went on record multiple times with the media that he did not believe the team would be so lucky this season.
However, their prayers were answered Friday afternoon.
As players arrived at the practice facility of the Georgia Bulldogs on Friday, they expected to put on their pads and head to the practice fields. Instead, they were greeted by a concussion video shown by their head coach but in the middle of the video lay the surprise. Halfway thru the video, a graphic of Mark Richt in a swimsuit was shown.
The locker room erupted.
The volume of the player’s screams of joy echoed throughout the four floor facility and shook the room that contained the media, a floor above the team. According to Georgia Bulldogs linebacker Christian Robinson, the locker room went crazy with some of the athletes doing pull ups on some of the bars in the locker room. It was a raucous scene to say the least.
“We always try to trick them” Richt told the press. “We always try to do it on days that they don’t expect. ”
Once at the Ramsey Center, the players were pressured by both their coaches and peers to jump off the 10 meter high dive. Coach Richt went first and did a back flip.
“If you land wrong, something is going to get hurt” said Mark Richt. “I see our guys land awkwardly and if that was me, I would have disclocated my shoulder. Thankfully I hit it pretty good.”
The players went after their head coach, with each jump receiving cheers from those below. Senior linebacker Cornelius Washington had to be persuaded to jump off the high dive and is featured in the picture above. It was Washington’s first jump off the high dive while a student at Georgia. Freshman John Taylor also struggled with taking the tumble, though for a different reason. Taylor does not know how to swim. He wore a life vest for his jump and had to have teammates assist him out of the water.Even 350 pound nose tackle, Kwame Geathers, made the jump.
It was a day of fun for a team that had practiced hard all week including two scrimmages.
“We had fun today” added the Georgia Bulldogs coach. “It was a team-building day and we made a lot of memories”
Chris Lionetti covers the Southeastern Conference as a College Football Writer for Rant Sports
Follow him on twitter at: @ChrisLionetti
