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Friday, November 6, 2009 | The Red a Black
Small-town safety making big time plays
• By TYLER ESTEP
The Red & Black
Whenever a small town kid returns
home, It’s with open arms and open admi
ration.
In the case of Bacarri Rambo, Georgia’s
freshman safety with the tough-as-nails
name, you would think it would be even
more so.
In sporadic playing time, Rambo has
two interceptions (one returned for a
touchdown) for the Bulldogs, tied for the
team lead. When he goes home to
Donalsonville (pop. 3,000), they’re just
proud to know him.
“The people back home, they don’t
really care about the plays,” Rambo said.
“They just know that I play for Georgia
and they’re excited. People that I grew up
with, they haven’t ever played with some
body that went [to a Division I school] or
went to Georgia. So they get very excited
that they know someone and they get
around someone that’s playing college
football. Making plays and stuff, I know
they’re going to be asking autographs and
this and that, but I love everybody.”
Asa standout at Seminole County High
School in extreme southwest Georgia,
Rambo did it all, on both sides of the ball.
He was the leader of the Indians’ option
offense at quarterback, played linebacker
and returned kicks. He excelled at every
thing.
Donalsonville is about a 10 minute
drive from both Florida and Alabama. But
come college football Saturdays, there’s
no question of allegiance.
“Everybody’s watching the Dogs every
Saturday and watching to see how much
playing time he gets and get excited by it,
talk about it,” said Seminole County foot
ball coach Alan Ingram.
“Having kids out of a small school go
out and play, that’s a big thing for the
community. It brings a little bit of excite
ment, and a little bit of recognition to the
community. Everybody’s tickled to death
and proud of him. He’s a good kid. He rep
resents the school and the program here,
and the community, in a great way.”
Technically, this is Georgia’s homecom
ing week, as they get ready to host
Tennessee Tech on Saturday.
But with a Georgia bye week before
Florida, Rambo got the chance to go
home for the first time since the Bulldogs
started camp this summer.
“I’ve never been away from home that
long,” he said.
* * *
For Rambo, this season seems like it’s
been a long time in the making.
In taking a redshirt last year (affording
him the opportunity to play scout team
quarterback for Florida and Georgia Tech,
who run similar offenses to what he did in
high school), Rambo found himself in an
unfamiliar position on the bench in the
fall.
“It really brought me down, because
I’ve been playing football since I was like
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▲ Georgia’s Bacarri Rambo has made the best of sporadic playing time at safety as a redshirt freshman.
four,” Rambo said. “And I’ve never sat out
a day in my life, and then my freshman
year I was sitting out. It was really tough
but I just stayed with it and fought, and it
got me here to this point.”
Ingram praised Rambo’s work ethic,
citing that he “never missed a practice for
any reason” during his four years at
Seminole County. It was tough for an all
everything superstar to not participating
in games at all, much less playing seem
ingly every position.
“But he’s very intelligent,” said Georgia
safety Bryan Evans, who’s adopted Rambo
as a “little brother.” “And he made the
most of it. He listens. And it shows on the
field when he plays."
It’s still early in Rambo’s Georgia
career, but the kid from rural Georgia is
already showing why he was one of the
most highly-recruited talents in the
South.
“I’ve been dreaming of catching inter
ceptions and scoring since I was a little
boy,” he said. “I plan on having more than
FIRST & GOAL
that. It’s very exciting just playing here at
Georgia, feeling the team working, the
team’s brotherhood, the coaching staff
showing you love. It’s very exciting and
I’m blessed to be here.”
* • *
Rambo didn’t play much in the
Bulldogs’ last game against Florida, with
Evans, a senior, getting most of the reps.
There’s been some clamoring to give
him and some of the other younger guys
more time in a struggling secondary.
Rambo will likely get plenty of action
against a FCS opponent Saturday, con
tinuing his grooming as the Georgia safety
of the future.
“He’s earned playing time, he’s playing
well,” said Georgia coach Mark Richt.
“And he’s continuing to practice well. I
don’t think he would have to start to say
that [preparing him for next season] was
happening. He’s playing plenty to help us
be ready next year.”
And, if you ask Rambo’s high school
fashions
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coach, that could be one hell of a year.
“I predicted when he left here that if
they played him over there on defense
and he got time on the field, had two or
three years starting, my prediction was
that he’s going to beat [Jake Scott’s
school career interception record of 16]
there,” Ingram said. “He’s going to have a
great opportunity, a great chance to beat
that thing. He’s got two already and dam
near had two more.”
It appears Rambo will get that playing
time. Evans will be gone after this season,
and the 6-foot, 210-pounder has seemingly
already penciled his name in to fill the
void.
“He has all the potential in the world,”
Evans said. “He’s already pretty big to be
a redshirt freshman You can only get big
ger and faster. He loves contact, hopefully
he’ll be like another [former Georgia hard
hitting safeties Greg] Blue or [Thomas
Davis], He has that nose for the ball. It’s
going to be fun watching him.”
Especially in Donalsonville.