Georgia football will see ESPN’s College GameDay return to the Classic City for the second time this season, with several intriguing options for the celebrity guest picker.
Raise your hand if you had College GameDay coming to town for Georgia’s football’s Homecoming matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats.
(surveys the room)
Oh, and that should read the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats.
No? Nobody?
Georgia football fans let out a collective groan when they surveyed the Dawgs 2021 home schedule because, on paper, the matchup looked less than sexy.
In yet another affirmation that the college football gods could give a rip about preseason expectations, first Arkansas and now Kentucky (a basketball school!) enter Sanford Stadium without a blemish on their resume.
Hence, College GameDay is setting up residency on Myers Quad this fall. Who’da thunk it?
When they were in town two weeks ago for the Arkansas game, GameDay chose wisely, tapping Ryder Cup Champion and DGD Harris English as the celebrity guest picker.
If the folks up in Bristol are looking for suggestions on who should man those duties this week, here are some suggestions.
Dominique Wilkins
Georgia basketball, stand up! It seems like, in the lexicon of iconic athletes to come out of the University of Georgia, Dominique Wilkins doesn’t get his due.
After three seasons in Athens, where he averaged double-digit points every season, finished his career averaging 21.6 points per game, and was the 1981 SEC Player of the Year, Wilkins was selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the 3rd overall pick in the 1982 NBA Draft.
He played 12 of his 16 NBA seasons with the Hawks, finishing his career as a nine-time All-Star and seven-time All-NBA selection. Wilkins’ career landed him in the Basketball Hall of Fame, and ESPN chose him as one of the 100 greatest players in NBA history.
Two more positive points for Dominique: (1) he’s got to have one of the best nicknames in basketball history — The Human Highlight Film; and (2) to understand how he garnered No. 1, please watch him in the 1988 Slam Dunk Contest against Michael Jordan.
Trisha Yearwood
Trisha Yearwood was born and raised in Monticello, Georgia. Before heading to Nashville to get her degree from Belmont and chase her country music dreams, she actually spent a semester at the University of Georgia.
She’s undoubtedly never forgotten her Peach State roots, as she is an avid Dawgs fan, often wearing Georgia gear on tour and her Food Network cooking show, and she at Sanford Stadium earlier this season for the Georgia-South Carolina game.
She is a three-time Grammy Award winner and has been one of the leading female voices in country music for almost three decades.
Bill Goldberg
Before he became famous nationwide as professional wrestler Goldberg for his prowess in the squared circle, Bill Goldberg was a defensive tackle at the University of Georgia with dreams of playing in the NFL.
It’s @Goldberg days ‘til kick - Go Dawgs!#GoDawgs #ATD pic.twitter.com/8NlA61UOAh
— The Saturday In Athens Podcast (@Saturday_Athens) June 1, 2021
A dream he realized. Before the NFL Draft was shortened to its current seven-round iteration, Goldberg was an 11th Round draft pick of the Los Angeles Rams in 1990. He spent time with the Falcons and Panthers during his career before an injury shortened his football career in 1995.
Although no longer playing the game, Goldberg never left his football roots behind. He transitioned to a career in professional wrestling with the WCW and WWE, utilizing his famous “Spear” finishing move – which is essentially just a form tackle – on the way to becoming a multiple-time world champion.
Following his WWE Hall of Fame wrestling career, Goldberg’s found success in film and television, appearing in multiple shows and movies, which means he’d be perfectly comfortable on the College GameDay stage.
As for the remaining selections on this list, let’s quote Goldberg himself, “Who’s next?”
Champ Bailey
In the pantheon of Georgia football greats, is Champ Bailey talked about enough? Maybe it’s a byproduct of the team results during his time in Athens, but Kirby Smart’s former teammate was electric while he wore the red and black.
He played offense, defense, and special teams, becoming one of, if not the, greatest dual-threat players in not just Georgia history but SEC history. He won the 1998 Bronko Nagurski Trophy, awarded to the best defensive player in college football.
The Washington Redskins selected him with the 7th overall pick in the 1999 NFL Draft, and after a 15-year career in which he garnered three 1st-Team All-Pro selections and 12 Pro Bowls, Bailey had his name enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
Given his history as one of Georgia football’s all-time greats and his connection to head coach Kirby Smart, there aren’t many better choices College GameDay could make than going with Roland “Champ” Bailey, Jr. as their guest picker.
Samuel L. Jackson
If College GameDay could pull this off, it would be awesome. Samuel L. Jackson is one of the more recognizable celebrities out there, and he loves sports, and more notably, he loves the Dawgs.
Samuel L. went to undergrad at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and it seems its proximity to Athens may have given him an affinity for the Dawgs.
He’s often vocal on social media in support of the Dawgs and has been snapped multiple times wearing Georgia gear. He also attended the 2018 national title game in support of the Dawgs.
And if College GameDay is worried about him letting one of his calling-card F-bombs fly, it wouldn’t be the first time in show history, and everything turned out ok. Coach Corso famously had a “curse”-ory slip of the tongue back in 2011 when the show was on-site for the SMU-Houston game.
If you wanna win a bar bet this weekend, ask somebody to tell you what the “L” in Samuel L. Jackson stands for — if they can tell you, Leroy, without pulling out their phone, they deserve to win whatever y’all wagered.
In the spirit of SLJ, it seems there’s only one fitting way to end this article – GO DAWGS, MOTHER . . .