Tag: g day 2020

UGA announces attendance policies and date for 2021 G-Day spring game

UGA announces Georgia football’s 2021 G-Day date as well as all attendance and COVID-19 policies that will be in place for the scrimmage.

Georgia fans will get their first look at the new breed of incoming Bulldogs on April 17 during the beloved G-Day spring football game. Time of kickoff and broadcasting information has not yet been released by the university.

This will be the second G-Day game that takes place during the COVID-19 era, and many of last year’s safety precautions will still be in play.

Sanford Stadium will be allowing 20-25 percent capacity into the game just like last year’s spring game and this past football season.  Tickets will go up for request digitally on March 1 for $10 a pop, and all proceeds will be donated to charity.

This year ticket sales will be offered to all 2020/2021 Hartman Fund donors.  The Hartman Fund helps provide financial support to UGA student-athletes for a number of different resources to help establish a strong foundation for success in life beyond their playing days in Athens.

Here is the breakdown of the 2021 G-Day ticket priority access:

1st priority: 2020 Hartman Fund donors who were only given tickets for the 2020 Vanderbilt game, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 precautions. Magill Society members are also included in this first priority group.

2nd priority: 2020 Hartman Fund donors who converted any amount of their remaining balance toward the COVID-19 UGA Athletics Fund.

3rd priority: All remaining 2020/2021 Hartman Fund donors.

4th priority: UGA Faculty, Staff and Students.  Certain individuals will receive an email from the Athletic Association Ticket Office with the possibility to request tickets.

5th priority: The general public will have access to any remaining tickets on Monday, March 15.

Campus parking lots will open and be available to G-Day ticket holders three hours prior to kickoff.  Sanford’s gates will open two hours before kickoff.

These lots will be accessible by special permit only:

• Tate Center Deck and surface lot

• Clark Howell parking lot

• Sanford Drive and Field Street

• Lower East Campus Road lot

Handicapped parking will be available in the Tate Center Parking Deck and East Campus Road lot with a valid handicap parking permit and G-Day game ticket.

No tailgating will be allowed for the 2021 G-Day game.

All fans in attendance will be required to wear a face mask when entering and walking around the stadium. They may be taken off when seated, socially distanced of course. Hand sanitation stations will be located  throughout the whole stadium. Sanitation crews will also be present to regularly clean bathrooms and concession stands.

Which Georgia football alumni are most affected by pro day cancellation

For several recently departed Bulldogs, it’s going to be a bit more difficult finding opportunities to prove what they want to prove.

This week, the SEC cancelled all remaining spring competitions amid COVID-19 concerns. In their official announcement, the plans to halt play include abandoning spring football scrimmages and each school’s pro day.

Pro days are the last setting in which college football standouts perform drills before a plethora of NFL coaches and scouts prior to the NFL Draft.

If a player wasn’t invited to the NFL scouting combine or performed less-than-ideally at the combine, this is typically their last chance to turn heads and earn a drafted rookie contract instead of going undrafted and having a lower-dollar contract with far fewer guarantees.

For several recently departed Georgia Bulldogs, it’s going to be a bit more difficult finding opportunities to prove what they want to prove.

Tyler Clark, defensive tackle:

Clark has been projected as a late-round pick on some of the many mock drafts floating around the internet. The recent graduate out of Americus considered declaring for last year’s NFL draft but chose to return to Athens following a lower-than-preferred draft grade. In his senior season, he recorded a career high in tackles for loss and tied his career high in sacks.

Former Georgia defensive tackle and NFL veteran Toby Johnson took to twitter to voice his displeasure over Clark’s omission from the NFL Combine.

Tyler Clark will certainly show up on a professional roster at some point before the ensuing NFL season, but the cancellation of pro day isn’t doing his career any long-term favors.

Jake Fromm, quarterback:

Georgia’s golden boy is one of three quarterbacks to go undefeated against Florida in more than three starts (including John Rauch, Buck Belue), but many Georgia faithful were surprised he chose not to go for a perfect 4-0 record against the reptiles. Fromm delved into what went behind that decision in the days preceding his performance the NFL Combine.

The problem for Fromm was that the aforementioned performance ended up being pedestrian.

Taking reps after former teammate Jacob Eason, an eventual Washington transfer for whom he took over in the 2017 season opener following an Eason leg injury, Fromm was decidedly the less impressive quarterback (at least in that specific day’s drills) between the two.

Fromm’s last season in Athens was the least productive of his three total campaigns. The judgment to declare early made sense as his draft stock has still been high and it’s easy to see his final collegiate season as a statistical outlier under a new quarterbacks coach.

Looking forward to a league that places value on quarterbacks ahead of almost every other positions, the cerebral Jake Fromm is sure to end up on a roster and still projects as draft pick. If he had received the opportunity to participate in a pro day, however, he could solidify himself as a second-day pick (draft rounds two through four) as opposed to a third-day selection (rounds five through seven) or even as an undrafted free agent.

Tae Crowder, inside linebacker:

Tae Crowder’s path to the University of Georgia was a meandering one.

Crowder was a last-minute addition to the Dawgs’ 2015 signing class, receiving his scholarship offer the morning before National Signing Day. He hadn’t taken an official visit. He spent no time in personal meetings with Georgia coaches. Yet he committed on the spot.

“It was always my dream to play at the University of Georgia,” Crowder told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2015.

As Harris County’s offensive player of the year during his senior season, Crowder came to Athens as a dual receiver and running back.

He was quickly moved to inside linebacker, and, after redshirting his first year in Athens, spent another year fine-tuning his linebacking skills before spending three years starting, recording 122 tackles, and grabbing two takeaways along the way(s).

Considering his history of position changes and a lack of invitation to the NFL Combine, Crowder loses a lot of face time prior to the draft.

Finebaum: NCAA president Emmert’s handling of cancellations “inexcusable”

Cancellation was always going to be the safe decision, but the NCAA’s lack of communication left conference leaders in the dark.

Last week, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey appeared on The Paul Finebaum Show to disclose that he learned secondhand of NCAA President Mark Emmert’s decision to cancel spring and winter sports amid COVID-19 concerns.

As per Sankey, he learned of the cancellation from a journalist. He received no prior notification from NCAA officials.

Though it was always going to be the safe decision to make, the communication (or lack thereof) related to the NCAA’s cancellation plans left conference leaders in the dark.

Following Sankey’s revelation, Finebaum, in an appearance on Birmingham’s WJOX, let loose on his perceptions of the issue.

“I know this is the wrong time to make absolute statements but I’m going to make one anyway. That moment was the end of the NCAA as we know it. It may have power in existence for some times but that was an existential moment in the history of the NCAA where knowing the commissioners like we do, they are going to band together at some point, when the storm clears, and are going to say, ‘You know what, we’re not going to take that anymore.’”

Finebaum continued regarding the communication breakdown:

“For Mark Emmert, not to have more consultation with the people that feed the system was inexcusable. And what was interesting is we all praised him on Wednesday afternoon, ‘What a great decision to go ahead and announce that there would be no fans (for the 2020 NCAA Tournament)’ and in the moment it did look good, but once again no consultation with anyone.”

The necessary precautions for the general public’s safety never came into question for Finebaum.

“Quit praising him for making the right call…it wasn’t a difficult call.”

He concluded:

“Let’s not give him too much credit or give anyone too much credit. This was this a domino effect, which we all know was caused by the NBA (being the first major American sporting league to suspend play due to coronavirus concerns).”

For other inquiries into how the global health pandemic affects the world of college sports:

Coronavirus forces NCAA to make big decisions regarding eligibility, recruiting

SEC cancels its men’s basketball tournament due to coronavirus

NCAA grants spring season athletes an extra year of eligibility

Will Georgia football cancel G-Day due to coronavirus?

Georgia football Pro Day postponed amid coronavirus outbreak

Georgia football announces kickoff time for G-Day spring scrimmage

Between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. on April 18, Georgia fans will be able to celebrate the off-season’s halfway point.

The official website of the University of Georgia’s athletic department previously listed G-Day, the annual scrimmage concluding spring practice, as starting at a time to be announced.

School officials set the date last month, again avoiding overlap of The Masters after years of Georgia sports fans having to decide which legendary local sporting venue to visit.

Today, kickoff time was updated to be 2:00 p.m. EST on Saturday, April 18. It will air on ESPN’s SEC Network.

Thanks to SicEmDawgs.com for first noticing the update.

Following several years of at-capacity crowds (we’re talking upward of 93,000 folks, folks) for the Bulldogs’ spring scrimmage, wind and rain limited last year’s attendance to a modest 52,000 drenched Dawg fans.

Regardless of northeast Georgia’s unpredictable weather, between the hours of 2:00 and 6:00 p.m. on April 18, Georgia fans wet and dry will be able to celebrate the off-season’s halfway point.