Another no-show for UGA’s Caleb King, who’s a bowl no-go
This remains the highlight of Caleb King's UGA career. (AJC photo by Brant Sanderlin)
Caleb King won’t play in the Liberty Bowl due to academic concerns, which means the Georgia tailback will complete 2010 having missed five games three different ways — two with an injury, two more due to suspension for failing to appear in court regarding a speeding ticket and now this latest suspension, incurred for missing at least five “academic-related appointments.”
Caleb King, it would seem, isn’t particularly skilled at showing up. He needs to remedy that. Because it’s clear even the endless patience of Mark Richt is nearing its end. Speaking of King, Richt told reporters in Memphis on Sunday: “We’ve played some games without him before, and we’ll do it again.”
It’s not as if King has been indispensable: He has had two 100-yard rushing games in three seasons. The first was his 166-yard showing against Georgia Tech in 2009 on a night when Washaun Ealey gained 183. This season King gained 100 yards at Colorado on a night that will be remember for his strange spin-around fumble at game’s end.
It has been a while now since King caused a stir by leaving Parkview High to play his senior season at Greater Atlanta Christian. He was a big deal then — the No. 1 player in Georgia who was bound for UGA. He hasn’t been nearly as big a deal since, and his time’s almost up. He’ll turn 23 next month. He needs to start showing up.
By Mark Bradley
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511 comments Add your comment
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
12:53 pm
Sure are a lot of Tech fans concerned with a suspended UGA running back on their gameday.
Note the date…. yes, it’s gameday for Tech.
BeatTech
December 27th, 2010
12:53 pm
Time to dismiss Caleb.
sturn
December 27th, 2010
12:54 pm
Grim Reaper… Is that even english? Please stop trying to show that your smart. Your failing miserably.
the truth hurts
December 27th, 2010
12:54 pm
Secondly, football mom, your kids suck. Nobody wantes em sept you.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
12:54 pm
Sandman….
Fotball Mom is in NO WAY a “Footbakk Mom”…
Football Mom is an 18 year old pimply faced Tech freshman fraternity pledge on here to try and defecate the UGA brand.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
12:55 pm
“Football Mom”
Sandman053
December 27th, 2010
12:55 pm
Lol @ D A Double….they are just getting ready for another beat-down. I bet that game looks like a basketball score when it is over..93-91 or something like that. THWGT!
reality bites
December 27th, 2010
12:55 pm
Football mom: Its YOUR responsibility to make sure your kid does what he needs to do when he leaves home. You can get a great degree and enter almost any profession you choose from UGA. Or, you can major in some bs major, have a party for four (or five or six) years and reap the rewards of being a slacker. Your attitude is the problem, not the opportunity UGA affords students. Nobody owes your kid anything.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
12:55 pm
101st!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ramguy
December 27th, 2010
12:56 pm
Addressed to Savannah Dawg and Company December 27th, 2010 12:23 pm
Finally a dose of reality in a sea of diarrhea. Through the years I have seen people diss players from UGA. They can’t just give constructive criticism, they have to call them names. I’ve seen players called almost everything under the sun some of which have given 4 or 5 years of blood sweat and tears for UGA and for what? Because they don’t live up to their expectations. Every player is not going to be a superstar. That’s just the way it is. I wonder how many people who post here could endure just one practice with the Dawgs. I would wager not many if any. As for King, he had been a steady though unspectacular running back. I hope he would start making the most of his opportunity starting by making better decisions.
Starring Kam Fong as Chin Ho
December 27th, 2010
12:56 pm
So now HT resorts to posting under my screen name. Yep, a mental midget he is. Anyone surprised?
William C Smith
December 27th, 2010
12:56 pm
Some of these kids never grow up. It all begins in high school. Caleb was probably passed when average non football students were hammered. Remember the college basketball player years ago who had played for several years , and then admitted that he could not read. Many in later years turn to drug sales as a source of income. Throw him off the team, but more important we need to put education back into college sports.
Sandman053
December 27th, 2010
12:57 pm
It was funny to note on one graph the graduation rates for UGA were rising in about the same time frame as our record was declining…and other SEC East schools were heading in the other direction other than Vandy (who makes some dang fine doctors I might add)
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
12:57 pm
doh!!!
Mtn Dawg
December 27th, 2010
1:02 pm
Of course no one on this blog lives in a glass house. Everyone here is/was in academic excellence.
Not to change the subject, but what does A.J. have to risk if he enters the draft and there’s a lock-out? Anyone out there know? I don’t.
porta pottie
December 27th, 2010
1:03 pm
80 percent of success is ’showing up’… This guy has talent but seems to make poor off field decisions. It could be bagging groceries or the fry station if he doesn’t get together. just sayin.
Sandman053
December 27th, 2010
1:06 pm
@ Mtn Dawg: I’m not sure how that works. I would imagine he would get a signing bonus but then the union payments (which to hear them tell it are paltry)
Mtn Dawg
December 27th, 2010
1:09 pm
Yes, I would imagine they would be a pitiful sum, indeed. The signing bonus would be the incentive I suppose. Thanks Sandman053.
Fan of the Game
December 27th, 2010
1:09 pm
King has had his moments like last year’s Tech game. But he is just an example of the problems UGA has had in judging talent in recruiting. King was rated so high by the recruiting services that if UGA didn’t sign him they would be judged as failures. Well we need to quit relying on recruiting services. They are alot to blame for blowing these guys up and making them bigger than they really are.
still@the bar
December 27th, 2010
1:10 pm
Sandman Don’t let the Numbers fool you. Look at the difference between the degrees. Vandy and Florida are the only SEC schools that are members of the AAU. UGA ain’t that great. I would love to see the SEC schools play more Big 10 schools, but after the football game let them have a Scholarship Game too. See who has the Box of Rocks for Jocks title. I am sure the SEC would win that at every SEC Big 10 meeting.
DA double UG You spent a lot of time on the Tech blog about their players not getting to play in their bowl game. I did notice Tech suspended players for a 1/2 of the bowl game. I notice UGA didn’t follow that rule concerning the UGA players entering the playing field during a fight in the Auburn game. RICHT all class and such a man of class and honor. HAHAHA not if it might cost him a game.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
1:11 pm
Mtn Dawg,
depends on who you ask. NFL Agents are saying there is NOTHING to worry about. College Head Coaches are saying they would be stupid to leave.
There is no good answer out there. When you find one, please report back.
GO DAWGS
Don't worry, be happy!
December 27th, 2010
1:11 pm
Caleb will never catch up academically and he is already a lost cause ethically and morally. We will never see him in a UGA uniform again and we will be much better off without him. Goodbye to a miserable POS!
Fan of the Game
December 27th, 2010
1:13 pm
Well at least he didn’t fight in the stands like the two idiots from MSU.
uuugh...
December 27th, 2010
1:15 pm
GaTruth: Are you really using Labron James as a benchmark!? That guy embodies everything that is wrong with the NBA.
Also, I can’t believe people are defending/sympathizing with Caleb King and blaming Richt!
Caleb screwed up…again; so he has to pay the price…again.
Richt creates and enforces the rules. It is not his fault Caleb is not smart, respectful, or man enough to follow them.
jarvis
December 27th, 2010
1:15 pm
Georgia’s not in the AAU because it doesn’t have a medical school nor an engineering program. These are two things that will soon be rectified.
Traditionalist
December 27th, 2010
1:16 pm
When can we expect a column on the Tradition Continues at UGA?
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
1:16 pm
still@thebar
You are the prime example of every Tech fan(sic) on these blogs.
If you want to debate Academics, go to the Academics section of the AJC and play on those blogs.
I find it a compliment to UGA’s football program every time you Nerds realize the ONLY thing you have on us in a football argument is….. Academics.
Mtn Dawg
December 27th, 2010
1:17 pm
@Fan of the Game. That fight was a pathetic display. They both have serious issues and need couciling and removal from the team permanently. But of course at least one of them was a McDonalds All American. That might adversely affect the team and the outcome of the season. Better give him a slap on the hand instead.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
1:19 pm
still@,
can you name a SINGLE UGA player who left the bench in the “brawl” you speak of?? I thought so.
And since when do a couple players smacking each other’s heads and getting angry contitute the title of “brawl”??
I forget, Tech is so full of class that they shake hands before, during and after every game. Your Plahyers are just GLEAMING with role model status…… ROBERT HALL.
DUSTY
December 27th, 2010
1:21 pm
I think Caleb King will show up in 2011 and rock it.
He’s a total back and will have a long and fruitful NFL career.
He can run, we all know that.
He’s also one of the best pass blocking RB’s in the SEC and will really lay it on the line for his QB, very unselfish there, NFL guys will love the film on his devastating blocks.
King can also do damage as a pass catcher, he’s amazing on screen passes, and averages among the best in the NCAA on 3rd and 10.
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
1:21 pm
Maybe the AJC could also open up a “Class and Stature” section. Then the people who want to take stabs at indivudual kids can go there.
I would liketo leave the Sports debates here in the Sports section.
still@the bar
December 27th, 2010
1:22 pm
Jarvis A school doesn’t have to have medical or engineering program. The Member Universities have to be REASEARCH Instutions. Members are Invited based on the QUALITY of their programs in academic reasearch.
#1 in Getting Drunk and Laid ain’t a TOP Reasearch Program to the rest of the country.
lawzoo
December 27th, 2010
1:23 pm
This is a program on the ropes. How ga. does not do better given the fact that the state is the largest east of the Mississippi River is baffling.
‘Em dawgs are a storied tradition only outside of Eaastman and Danielsville and in the minds of adults who will get on their hands and knees and bark.
Mark (a different one)
December 27th, 2010
1:23 pm
Some people seem fixated on King’s and Ealey’s ages. King was 19 as a senior in High School (born 1/10/88, and graduated in 2007). He redshirted at 19, and played as a 20, 21 and 22 year old. He turns 23 next month, and will hopefully compete as a senior next fall at age 23.
Ealey was born 6/1/89 and graduated in 2009, just after turning 20. He was 20 for his freshman year and 21 for his sophmore year, which will complete with this Friday’s bowl.
DUSTY
December 27th, 2010
1:25 pm
Caleb King gets over 8 yards a carry on 3rd down. NFL will love that.
uuugh...
December 27th, 2010
1:26 pm
Dusty: Unfortunately for you and King, there is more to it than just playing football. It is the not-football part that seems to trip Caleb up.
doug
December 27th, 2010
1:26 pm
Can you spell MORON
DUSTY
December 27th, 2010
1:26 pm
Caleb averages 11 ypc on 3rd and 10+.
Paul in RDU
December 27th, 2010
1:26 pm
Mark – Nice description of Richt’s patience as being “endless” as it does seem to be the case.
I find it interesting that King has been suspended because of missing FIVE “academic-related appointments”. Where all of the appointments that he blew off in the time period between Thanksgiving and finals week? How many of them were missed during the regular season (before the final game) and was Richt more patient with King while UGA was trying to qualify for a bowl?
jarvis
December 27th, 2010
1:27 pm
OK smart guy, do this for me. Look up all 61 members of the AAU and tell me which of those don’t have either a medical school nor an engineering school.
It’s tough to compete in research when you don’t house either of the top grant receiving fields.
And don’t capitalize my “j”.
DUSTY
December 27th, 2010
1:27 pm
The NFL doesn’t care about character, it’s all about results, get a clue.
catlady
December 27th, 2010
1:27 pm
Anyone familiar with Mr. King’s academic “history” before coming to UGA might not be surprised he has had so much trouble. Best thing to do is cut him loose and let him see if a junior college will admit him. Or, even better, joining the service (if he qualifies) might help him develop some personal responsibility. BTW, who did he blame this on?
still@the bar
December 27th, 2010
1:28 pm
DA double UG
YES, I can name quite a few players. They listed them on the Barnhart & Durham radio show. I was a bunch of your starters.
Hall didn’t BEAT his GF. He doesn’t have a policr record either. Hall tried to leave the apartment when his GF kept attacking him and he shoved her in the bathroom as he tried to leave the apartment. HALL was not the aggressor. PLEASE go look and find me where HALL has a Conviction onthese charges you keep bringing up. Please find a record of it.
uuugh...
December 27th, 2010
1:28 pm
Dusty: How many of those were for conversions? If he averages 8 and we need an average of 15…maybe the defenses are trying to stop us from getting 15 but will give us 8.
Is that possible?
DUSTY
December 27th, 2010
1:29 pm
Caleb’s been compared to Herschel Walker and was the #1 RB in the country coming out of high school.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZe99cnBT4s
11 Arrests 6 Wins
December 27th, 2010
1:30 pm
No surprise here….he and Washaun can’t even spell academics.
uuugh...
December 27th, 2010
1:30 pm
Jasper Sanks was also highly touted.
Your Breath Smells like Fish Fry Tacos
December 27th, 2010
1:31 pm
Caleb King – the biggest bust since Jasper Sanks
D A Double U G
December 27th, 2010
1:34 pm
give me a break Still@,
you think if Robert Hall were a Dawg, and the exact same thing happened, and charges were dropped, you Nerds wouldn;t be all over these blogs talking about how much of a “Thug” he is???
You Techies are the biggest group of pompous hypocrites College Footbal has ever seen, and you are a disgrace to the Southeastern United States. I would pay for all funding to pick up your Institute(sic) and drop it off somewhere in New England. You’re self deserving attitudes would fit in much better up there. Plus you would be able to compete MUCH better if Boston College were your geographical rival.
9-1, son.
Mark Richt is your daddy.
Spurrier
December 27th, 2010
1:34 pm
More trash from the thugs of the SEC. UGA is a program that needs to just give up. It will be worse next season, and you will lose to poor little South Carolina again. Rev. Richt better pray his ass off, but in the end it will not make a difference. Richt is done, Grantham is easily exposed, and no talent is on the current roster. Enjoy fighting Kentucky and Vandy for fourth. It is over, and UGA needs to concede or the beatings will intensify.