Georgia football: Stetson Bennett racks up the award finalist honors

Last week Georgia football quarterback, team captain, and national champion Stetson Bennett got named as a finalist in this year’s Burlsworth trophy. This honor is one of many trophy finalist lists the quarterback finds himself on this year.

Let’s unpack that statement for a moment. A former walk-on who fought for his right to play on the team is now one of the faces of the Georgia football program. He could even be leading his team to what looks like another national championship. Bennett should be in Heisman contention, which would be quite the rags-to-riches story. It’s the kind of story that Disney will make a movie about in the future — he could be the better Rudy of our time.

The Burlsworth trophy is given to the country’s best player who started his career as a walk-on. Bennett was also a finalist last year and followed in the footsteps of Rodrigo Blankenship, who was a finalist in 2019.

Stetson Bennett could win many awards after his final season with Georgia football.

As much as Bennett’s career is now both heralded and decorated, the former Mailman, now  Milkman’s journey to starting quarterback, was not easy. A 2-star recruit coming out of high school, Bennett was not widely recruited and not pursued by the team he longed to play for, Georgia.

Bennett walked on at Georgia and played no snaps in his first year in Athens. While he was a scout team phenom, starting was not in the picture. With Justin Fields committing to the Bulldogs that year, Bennett decided to transfer to Jones County Junior College.

After his season at Jones County, Bennett elected to transfer again, with a possibility of moving to Louisiana under then head coach Billy Napier. However, a twist of events saw Fields decide to transfer to Ohio State, and Bennett found himself heading back to Athens. The rest, they say, is history, albeit Bennett has continued even to this day to confound his critics. It seems the job of a walk-on is never done.

"“(I’m) proud of him and what he represents, how he represents our university” said head coach Kirby Smart during last week’s SEC Coaches teleconference about Bennett’s nomination. “All the things he has overcome, from being a high school walk on to leading our team — he’s done a tremendous job and it’s a tremendous honour to be recognised as a finalist for that award”."

Smart knew Brendan Burlsworth from his time coaching at Colts camp and was happy to give his thoughts on the Burlsworth Trophy and the mentality of the walk-on.

"“It probably doesn’t get enough recognition,” Smart said. “There’s no greater story in any program than a kid that’s a walk on to earn a scholarship — to be acknowledged  as a former walk on and to be considered the best in the country to do it that way is one hell of an honor. Most of them are guys that have a chip on their shoulder and overcame a lot and most of them got told they weren’t good enough — that’s why they were walk on’s. And they proved everybody wrong.”"

The mentality of the walk-on is different from other players who have already received their scholarships. Walk-ons who make it to scholarship seem to be a breed apart with a point to prove and a relentless pursuit of their dream to play football. Something the Georgia head coach was emphatic about when talking to the press this week about Brandon Burlsworth and players like him.

This year’s other finalists are Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell and Troy University linebacker Carlton Martial. Bennett and Martial are repeating finalists from last year, who lost out to Grant Morgan from Arkansas.

Bennett will be hoping that the second time is lucky for him. He is the best former walk-on in the country, and anyone who denies that does not realize how good Bennett is. Hopefully, those who vote on this award see that and give him the credit he deserves. Although with a resume such as his, can he be overlooked this year?