Tag: Tavarres King

UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton: 2021 kickoff with Tavarres King, Keith Marshall and Armarlo Herrera

UGA greats Tavarres King, Keith Marshall and Armarlo Herrera join J.C. to talk UGA and the 2021 Bulldogs.

Former Georgia football greats Tavarres King, Keith Marshall and Armarlo Herrera join J.C. to kickoff the 2021 college football season!

Your friends at UGA Football Live and UGA Wire present your one-stop-shop podcast for all things Georgia football: “UGA Football Live with J.C. Shelton.”

This season we will release episodes each week interviewing some of the best Georgia Bulldogs of all time with news, breakdowns, rumors and more!

King, Marshall and Herrera talk about their time in Athens together, their UGA careers and go through the questions surrounding this year’s Georgia football squad like:

  • How will Georgia replace injured stars at receiver?
  • How will the Dawgs prepare for a top-5 matchup with Clemson?
  • What do the young Bulldogs need to be prepared for?

Listen here on Spotify:

Listen here, on Apple Podcasts

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/uga-football-live-with-j-c-shelton/id1533295384

Also on the show – we play a game called ‘crunch time’. It’s Georgia versus Florida, the Gators lead 38-35 with two minutes on the clock. King, Marshall and Herrera give me their top Bulldogs to go win the game.

 

Make sure to subscribe, rate and review! And check out our other episodes featuring former Georgia greats like Tavarres King (Ep. 3)  Keith Marshall (Ep. 4) Arthur Lynch (Ep. 6) Malcolm Mitchell (Ep. 7) Drew Butler (Ep. 9) Aaron Murray (Ep. 17) Brandon Boykin and Chris Burnette (Ep. 18)  Rennie Curran (Ep. 24) and Mark Richt (Ep. 27)

UGA great Tavarres King has helping hand in Berry College standout signing UDFA contract

Former Georgia football WR Tavarres King had a helping hand in Berry College WR Mason Kinsey signing a UDFA deal with the Tennessee Titans.

Following the conclusion of the 2020 NFL Draft, Berry College (Rome, Ga) wide receiver Mason Kinsey signed a free agent deal with the Tennessee Titans. Kinsey is the only Division III player in 2020 to sign as a free agent and the first Vikings player in history to sign with an NFL team.

The Habersham Central High (Mt. Airy, Ga) product claimed his third consecutive All-Conference first-team honor and was named a D-III third-team All-American. The Demorest, Ga. native holds program records in nearly every receiving category, finishing his career with a Southern Athletic Association record 3,343 receiving yards and 50 receiving touchdowns. The 6-foot, 195-pound wideout led Berry to a 9-2 record and the Vikings’ fourth consecutive conference championship. For his efforts, Kinsey received an invitation to the prestigious East-West Shrine Bowl, the only D-III player selected.

During his freshman year in high school, due to a lack of reps, Kinsey was about to give up on football and focus on basketball. Georgia wide receiver Tavarres King, then a senior, stepped into the picture.

King persuaded Kinsey he had a future in football and should transition from running back to receiver. King, a former Habersham Central 4-star recruit, Georgia Gatorade Player of the Year and one of the SEC’s top receivers, saw something in Kinsey and proceeded to lend his advice and backing.

With King’s guidance and support, Kinsey went on to become a two-time all-region selection and Habersham Central’s second all-time leading receiver behind King. He declined a preferred walk-on offer to Mercer and enrolled in Berry to pursue a sports management degree and an opportunity to play football.

“He’s like my big brother and I love him to death,” Kinsey told Forbes.com of his relationship with King. “He has really helped me out and I definitely would not be the player I am today without him. I give a lot of props to him.”

Kinsey’s desire and hunger to put in the work makes him stand out and King took ealy notice of his work ethic.

“That’s what I love about Mason,” King told Forbes.com. “He is real hungry, real eager to learn and a hard-working kid.”

During his tenure at the University of Georgia, King caught 135 passes for 2,602 receiving yards and 21 touchdowns, good for ninth in career receptions, fourth in career yardage and third in career receiving touchdowns. A former fifth-round draft choice of the Denver Broncos, King played six years in the NFL for five teams, with his last stop in Minnesota in 2018.  King knows the NFL scouting system.

“I would tell him all the time, if you are good, they will find you,” said King. “It’s all about making plays and making the most of his opportunities. Mason has done that to this point and I expect him to continue to do that.”

Read Forbes’ story on King and Kinsey here.

Vote: Which former Dawg drafted best basketball team made up of Georgia football players?

We asked four former Bulldogs to draft a basketball team made up of Georgia football players. Vote for your favorite here.

The UGA Wire staff voted and we gave our starting five that we would take if we were drafting a pick-up basketball team composed of Georgia football players.

Next, we reached out to former Georgia players Isaiah Wilson, Mecole Hardman, Tavarres King and Dannell Ellerbe to get their starting five of former or current players.

The players only had one rule: They were asked to draft players who played at Georgia from the time they started their careers to present day.

(Example: Mecole Hardman, who started playing for Georgia in 2016, was able to choose UGA players from 2016-2020.)

(Another example: Dannell Ellerbe, who played for Georgia from 2004-8, was able to choose UGA players from 2004-2020.)

So, the older players certainly had an advantage, but let’s see who had the best squad.

Now, it’s time for you to vote on which of these five squads you would take.

Here are the teams:

Vote for the best team at the bottom.

1. Team UGA Wire (We picked from current players only):

Point Guard: Jamie Newman (6-4, quarterback)

Shooting Guard: Richard LeCounte (5-11, safety)

Small Forward: George Pickens (6-3, wide receiver)

Power Forward: Jermaine Johnson (6-5, outside linebacker)

Center: Darnell Washington (6-7.5, tight end/defensive end)

We went with all current Georgia players for our picks to keep things in the present, even though we gave players to option to pick former Dawgs.

Wake Forest transfer QB Jamie Newman would be a commanding point guard with great court vision, complemented by an athletic and scrappy defender in the backcourt with Richard LeCounte. George Pickens would be the go-to scorer while JJ and D-Wash would hold things down in the paint.

2. Team Zay (Isaiah Wilson)

Able to choose Georgia players between 2017-20:

Point Guard: Jamie Newman (6-4, quarterback)

Shooting Guard: Richard LeCounte (5-11, safety)

Small Forward: George Pickens (6-3, wide receiver)

Power Forward: Bill Norton (6-6, defensive tackle)

Center: Jordan Davis (6-6, defensive tackle)

There were a lot of similarities between Isaiah’s team and ours, both selecting Newman, LeCounte and Pickens. Wilson then went with size in his picks, taking defensive tackles Bill Norton and Jordan Davis (both standing at 6-6) as his front court.

3. Team JET (Mecole Hardman)

Able to choose Georgia players between 2016-20:

Point Guard: Terry Godwin (5-11, wide receiver)

Shooting Guard: Javon Wims (6-2, wide receiver)

Small Forward: Richard LeCounte (5-11, safety)

Power Forward: Lorenzo Carter (6-5, linebacker)

Center: Davin Bellamy (6-5, linebacker)

Mecole’s team would have a lot of skill and finesse with Godwin and Wims in the backcourt while also being very physical with Carter and Bellamy defending the paint.  Mecole’s big men are physical but also are quite athletic and in shape, giving them stretch 4 and 5 capabilities on offense.

4. Team TK (Tavarres King)

Able to choose Georgia players between 2008-20:

Point Guard: Tavarres King (6-2 wide receiver)

Shooting Guard: Brandon Boykin (5-10, cornerback)

Small Forward: A.J. Green (6-4, wide receiver)

Power Forward: Marlon Brown (6-5, wide receiver)

Center: Fred Gibson (6-4, wide receiver)

King went with a four receiver team, adding cornerback Brandon Boykin because he clearly has crazy hops. Believe it or not, Freddy Gibson actually had a short stint in the NBA D League (now the G League) with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the Austin Toros.

TK gave a little analysis to go along with his selections:

“Tried to go all WR squad but Boykin my son so he can play on my team. 🤣 I like that squad though! Other Hoopers: Justin Houston, Clint Boling, Rambo.”

5. Team 2 Rings (Dannell)

Point Guard: D.J. Shockley (6-1, quarterback)

Shooting Guard: Tony Taylor (6-0, linebacker)

Small Forward: Antonio Sims (6-1, safety)

Power Forward: Quentin Moses (6-5, defensive end)

Center: Leonard Pope (6-8, tight end)

Ellerbe’s squad is old-school, and may include a few names that are unfamiliar to some of our younger readers. Ellerbe showed some love to two of the greatest to ever do it at Georgia, Quentin Moses and Leonard Pope. Both of these men were monsters in Athens and can play bully ball down low.

Now that you have the teams, it’s your turn to vote.

Vote for your favorite team here. There are no losers, just Dawgs.

[opinary poll=”who-drafted-the-best-squad_collegewires-3oi6bJ” customer=”collegewires”]

Tavarres King gives his Georgia football pick-up basketball starting 5

Former UGA wide receiver Tavarres King gives his version of the Georgia football pick-up basketball starting five.

Former Georgia wide receiver Tavarres King replied to us via Twitter, giving us his edition of the Georgia football pick-up basketball starting five.

For some background on what we’re doing…

To help get you through quarantine, we thought of a fun and creative way to entertainer our readers.

We started by compiling our own pick-up basketball team made up of current Georgia football players. But why stop there? We then reached out to a few former Bulldogs and asked them to assemble their own teams.

We let them draft players who played at Georgia from the time they started their careers to present day. So for Tavarres King, he was able to choose Georgia players from 2008-2020.

Related: Our starting five (Here) — Isaiah Wilson’s starting five (Here) —Mecole Hardman’s starting five (Here) — Dannell Ellerbe’s starting five (Here)

King had an amazing career at UGA, catching 135 passes for 2,602 yards and 20 touchdowns. He was picked up by a number of NFL teams including the New York Giants, where he had his best year in 2017.

Here’s what TK sent us:

Pick No. 1: PG Tavarres King (6-2 wide receiver)

TK: “Duh. I’m a surgeon with the rock.”

Pick No. 2: SG Brandon Boykin (5-10, cornerback)

TK: “Jumpin’ out the Gym!”

Pick No. 3: SF A.J. Green (6-4, wide receiver)

TK: “AJ is a Real Hooper”

Pick No. 4: PF Marlon Brown (6-5, wide receiver)

TK: “Marlon is a Real Hooper”

Pick No. 4: C Fred Gibson (6-4, wide receiver)

TK: “Freddie G could Hoop as well obviously!”

This team has a blend of size, speed and hops. The first A.J. Green selection we’ve seen yet, and I would pay big money to watch these five take on a different SEC school’s team.

TK: “Tried to go all WR squad but Boykin my son so he can play on my team. 🤣 I like that squad though!  Other Hoopers: Justin Houston, Clint Boling, Rambo.”

King went with a four receiver team, adding cornerback Brandon Boykin because he clearly has crazy hops. Believe it or not, Freddy Gibson actually had a short stint in the NBA D League (now the G League) with the Albuquerque Thunderbirds and the Austin Toros.

How does TK’s lineup match up against ours?

Related: 

Our starting five (Here)

Isaiah Wilson’s starting five (Here)

Mecole Hardman’s starting five (Here)

Dannell Ellerbe’s starting five (Here)

Georgia football alumni are hyped up for SEC Championship

Former Georgia lettermen take to social media to hype up the SEC Championship game.

Some of our favorite Dawgs have experienced the joy of victory and the agony of defeat against LSU in the SEC Championship Game.

Georgia and Louisiana State have met three times in competing for the conference title. The Tigers have bested the Bulldogs 2-1 in such scenarios, claiming the conference championship in 2003 and 2011. Georgia won the 2005 matchup behind D.J. Shockley’s electrifying performance.

Here’s what the lettermen had to say:

View this post on Instagram

ITS THAT TIME!! #GODAWGS #BEATLSU

A post shared by Tavarres King (@tkunodos) on

They seem confident that the Dawgs can even the series.

Georgia football greats Aaron Murray, Drew Butler discuss UGA vs Tech

Georgia football greats Aaron Murray and Drew Butler talk UGA vs Ga Tech.

On Saturday at noon, Georgia and Georgia Tech will kickoff the 113th meeting of Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate.

The Bulldogs are 28.5 point favorites over the Yellow Jackets and have won 15 of the last 18 meetings.

This season, there’s plenty of reasons to think No. 4 Georgia (10-1) will cover the spread against Tech (3-8).

Simply, Georgia’s defense is just way too good. It has shut down just about everybody its played, and Tech’s offense will be one of the worst the Dawgs have faced this season.

This week, Georgia greats Aaron Murray and Drew Butler discussed the game known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate on their show powered by CampusLore.

[jwplayer HJBfxBih-er0jUifI]

UGA vs Tech: Has the hate died out? Tavarres King doesn’t think so

Georgia football great Tavarres King does not think Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate between UGA and Georgia Tech has died out.

Georgia has beaten Georgia Tech 15 out of the last 18 seasons, furthering its dominance in the rivalry game known as Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. And by the way, Tech’s three wins over that stretch came by a combined 10 points.

This will be the 113th meeting between the two in-state programs and it’s looking like another Georgia win is on its way. The Jackets are 3-8, but for some reason incredibly confident right now after beating a 4-7 NC State team by two points.

Despite the history and the strong hatred between the rivals that still exists today, there are Georgia who would like to see the Bulldogs drop the Yellow Jackets from their schedule in exchange for a more challenging opponent.

Tavarres King, Georgia’s fourth all-time leading receiver with 2,602 yards, never had any trouble waking up for the Yellow Jackets during his time (2008-2012) with the Bulldogs and thinks this game means too much to be overlooked.

King, A Georgia boy from Mount Airy, played in four games versus Tech. For two of those games it would have been easy to overlook the rival due to the fact that the Dawgs had a date with the SEC Championship to look forward to the following weekend.

But he said that was never the case.

“No, we wanted to win them all,” King texted when asked if it was hard to wake up for the regular season finale vs Tech, especially in 2011 and 2012 when the Dawgs knew they had an SECCG to prepare for.

“Our goal was to ‘keep the main thing the main thing’ in the words of Mike Bobo. And that was winning ball games.”

This game may have no conference standing implications, but a Georgia loss would eliminate the Dawgs from the national title race not just this year, but probably every year. Additionally, understanding how big football in the state of Georgia is, the importance of holding bragging rights over your in-state rival is immeasurable.

That’s why King thinks the game has not lost its allure.

“Every game is BIG because we are playing, but this game is special because it’s for state bragging rights.”

Georgia has run the state for years, and that does not seem to be coming to an end any time soon. Coach Kirby Smart, a Georgia boy who played college ball at UGA, is one who understands the importance of this game as well. He recently told a story about how Tech beat his Bulldog team on Smart’s senior day and he wanted to make sure that none of his players ever feel the way he did.

King’s another one of those guys who grew up in the Peach State and is proud to have played for the red and black. Helping to keep Georgia as the top football school in the state was one of the reasons this game meant so much to him.

“It was big to me because of tradition,” King said. ”It’s a fight for who represents the Georgia name. When you hear ‘Georgia’ do you think Bulldawgs or Yellow Jackets?!”

King, who was taken in the fifth round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos, has played for a number of teams as a pro – most recently the Minnesota Vikings. He was in Athens last weekend signing autographs with his friend and former Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno ahead of the Texas A&M game.

This weekend, King is thinking the Dawgs leave Atlanta with another win over Tech by a score 27-10.

“THE only real team in Georgia!”

Georgia vs Georgia Tech will kickoff at noon and air on ABC.