Freshman leaves UGA football team (UPDATED WITH RICHT REACTION)
Six months after signing with Georgia’s football program, and without participating in a single practice, freshman outside linebacker Dexter Morant left the team.
“Football’s just not for everybody,” coach Mark Richt said at his post-practice media briefing Wednesday. “I think he felt like he lost the desire to play. We tried to convince him that it would be in his best interest to stay and fight through it. . . . In the end, he felt like it wasn’t for him, at least not right now.”
Morant, a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder from Manning, S.C., signed with Georgia in February. He played defensive end in high school but was projected as an outside linebacker in new UGA defensive coordinator Todd Grantham’s 3-4 alignment.
Coming out of high school, Morant was rated the nation’s No. 15 defensive-end prospect by Rivals.com, No. 44 by Scout.com and No. 73 by ESPN.com.
Morant, who had been in Athens since June, informed Richt of his decision to leave before Tuesday’s practice.
“He told me a couple of times,” Richt said. “We were working hard to try to keep him. He was leaving; then he was staying. He was leaving; then he was staying. He finally decided he wasn’t going to stay.
“He came to me with his keys in his hand and said he wanted to go. I sat with him and tried to get him to stay. He didn’t want to do it.”
Richt isn’t sure of Morant’s plans.
“As I spoke to him, it didn’t seem like he was that interested in playing football. Period,” Richt said. “He said, ‘Coach, if I really wanted to play football, Georgia is where I want to be. It’s just that I don’t know what I want to do right now.’ It was more of a feeling like he lost the desire to play the game.”
(AJC correspondent Andy Johnston contributed to this blog from Athens.)
Other UGA coverage:
Contracts reveal UGA basketball non-conference opponents, dates, payouts.
Kansas junior college welcomes former UGA QB Mettenberger.
Coaches challenge UGA offensive line to be ‘dominant’
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374 comments Add your comment
anybody but GT
August 4th, 2010
5:20 pm
Yet another example of a recruiting mistake by CMR. Man can’t coach, judge talent, or make game day decisions.
chazzo
August 4th, 2010
5:20 pm
Apparently he is giving up football entirely and focusing on academics. I wish him all the best. In the mean time, does that leave an additional scholarship open for perhaps a JUCO guy?
fan
August 4th, 2010
5:22 pm
Yes, the Dawgs RUIN this state
dawgster
August 4th, 2010
5:25 pm
Cantondawg, agree with your comments, its a shame fellow dawgs and other fans can’t show some compassion for a young mans decision, whatever it may be..I don’t really understand some of the mentality nowadays, but then again i”m old school…I was taught to respect people and have tried to always do that, but reading some of the comments on here at times makes that extremely difficult..
Alaska Dawg
August 4th, 2010
5:26 pm
Gators R Us and Red Panties, you guys are so clever. No one could have predicted those comments. You 2 need to get a life or move on to another blog where losers are welcome. The kid quit. End of story. There is no room for a quitter on this team. Go Dawgs!!!!
P. Bull Terrier
August 4th, 2010
5:27 pm
There are a couple of things that continue to confuse me about most UGA blogs. First, I understand why Tech fans with an inferiority complex enjoy posting negative comments about UGA, but I can’t figure out why Florida fans bother with the pointless insults. Until UGA gets back to beating Florida on the field on a regular basis, I don’t know why a Florida fan would even be interested in UGA.
The second thing that I find puzzling is the number of children who are Tech fans. Its obvious most of the Tech fans on here never attended college and a majority appear to have the intellect of a 4th grader. I’ve never seen so much excitement about the word “panties” outside of an elementary school classroom, and adding a “y” or a “g” after UGA is the kind of “insult” that would only amuse someone who thinks “I know you are, but what am I” is an original and witty comeback. I know UGA has a huge fan base of Georgians who never attended college, but I never realized Tech was so popular in elementary schools. I wonder if Tech fandom is part of a trend among younger kids – kind of like Silly Bands – or if it’s something kids grow out of when they start to mature.
.
BobbyDodd21/20
August 4th, 2010
5:29 pm
When we go the Athens, we always live large, only the Perkins “Grand Slam” will do!!!
Paul in RDU
August 4th, 2010
5:29 pm
charlotte dawg – re “Cesspool of the South”. Some of your neighbours south of Pineville came up with this little gem
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI9i4IqeOcY
Paul in RDU
August 4th, 2010
5:31 pm
DawginLex
I loved the comment on trying to sing “and to hell with virginia polytechnic institute”
Imagine if you had tried the long version? “To hell with Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University”
UGA is Just Fine...
August 4th, 2010
5:32 pm
You know I love how all the UGA haters talk about our arrest record which is mostly comprised of underage drinking and related offenses. (we all know none of you EVER engaged in such behavior
)But let’s talk about a few things that may be familiar to you that Dawg players HAVEN’T been arrested for, but should be painfully familiar to you…
1. No UGA player has ever overdosed on herion (GT)
2. No UGA player has ever fired his AK-47 in the sky (UF)
3. No UGA player has ever used a teammate’s dead girfriend’s credit card (UF)
4. No UGA player has ever been arrested for armed robbery (UT)
5. No UGA player has ever asaulted an off duty police officer (UT)
6. No UGA player has ever had felony drug trafficing charges (GT)
I think we all get the point. So go ahead and spout ThUGA all you want and talk about arrests, and while we may have quantity the rest of you MORE than have quality.
Amazing
August 4th, 2010
5:35 pm
Isn’t it really amazing how many cowards on here have nothing else to do but worry about what is going on at UGA and then being the internet tough guy and fire away with their fingers.. wow. impressive. I bet if you knew the nerds behind the bullcrap, half would be gator fans with no father’s in their lifes and trailer park trash. It is plain to see they have nothing else to do with their pathetic life’s than worry about what UGA is doing and begging for attention. It get’s old, but what else do you expect from people with no life and no daddy.
Grandpa Right, formerly of Cochran
August 4th, 2010
5:40 pm
Why are all of these douchebags on a UGA football blog trashing the University? Their incessant attacks suggest something personal- perhaps they couldn’t get admitted, or the school wouldn’t accept their child; or maybe it is because they could never date the hot Tri-Delts or ADPis but the UGA boys could.
As far as academics, let’s stop this nonsense. The HOPE scholarship has opened the doors at UGA to a much larger group of applicants, so the school can be more selective and the average scores are going up. With a student body in the 30,000’s, compared to Tech’s 7 or 8 thousand, Tech should no doubt have higher test score. GT also has a more limited number of majors to choose from, and on average they are more academically challlenging on average. With the addition of the Athens medical school that gap may shrink, but it will never go away. Both are fine schools, the one best for you depends upon what you want to do when you graduate.
For all of the reasons listed that make Tech a more challenging academic school, they will always be inferior athletically, except for an occasional abberation (like a football win one out of ten years). Their basketball program is the one area in which they are better than UGA because of the “one and done” nature on NCAA basketball, plus the fact that basketball tends to be a more urban sport, and Atlanta’s urban nature is often attractive to the top hoops recruits. That urban environment is probably a disadvantage in other sports.
All that being said, both are fine academic schools, and have been proven to be so by many independent sources- but UGA owns the state of Georgia and it owns the bugs’ butts.
Jerry
August 4th, 2010
5:42 pm
Ga is called the cesspool of the south because so much **** from the north passes thru on the way to Fla
War Eagle Man
August 4th, 2010
5:46 pm
This is a testament to the unknown factors of any given recruit. I feel sorry for a guy with that much talent and the gift of that body but no desire or backbone to back it all up. I can’t imagine why a kid walks away from all that, his parents should drag his butt back even if it’s too late.This will affect the rest of his life. Gonna be some interesting reading when the skinny gets out.
Southern Belle
August 4th, 2010
5:47 pm
Dawgtards are UGAy! Their red panties prove it.
Now can we all say “Cesspool of the South”?
HugoStiglitz
August 4th, 2010
5:47 pm
Wow, it seems like the trolls really hurt the mutts feelings this time. They are out in full defensive force. All on a blog about a guy hardly anyone has even heard of.
Ty
August 4th, 2010
5:52 pm
Isn’t it really amazing how many cowards on here have nothing else to do but worry about what is going on at UGA…
It’s because poo always attracts attention. So do red panties falling from the sky.
And because it upsets you terribly.
dbc
August 4th, 2010
5:57 pm
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’ll go to the Athens Banner Herald from now on for UGA football info. Wading through the infantile comments each day on these boards is really getting old. I really doubt if 80% of the posters here ever even graduated from high school, much less any institution of higher learning. Have fun playing with yourselves and each other idiots. And to those posters who actually have something to say, my apologies.
Circus Act
August 4th, 2010
5:57 pm
We just lost a 4 star recruit and you fans are worried about a silly cheer. Why cant these clowns in Athens get it together?
chazzo
August 4th, 2010
5:58 pm
dawgster,
Amen. We should all take the high road. Winners take the high road.
rogers
August 4th, 2010
6:01 pm
One should be able to have a change of heart without being called a quitter. Have some respect; there are things in life more important than playing a game, believe it or not.
catlady
August 4th, 2010
6:02 pm
Sounds like it was just too hot for him. Hopefully he will find another place to light.
txdawg
August 4th, 2010
6:03 pm
MOIRE – amazing, saw this EXACT SAME post on another UGA blog this morning under a different name. You tech nerds aggravate the crap out of me. Your “better-than-thou” attitude is totally unfounded and not wanted here. You state that all we care about is parying and football and we need to get a life, but you are the one writing this long, thought out diatribes on a UGA blog. How about this….take your opinions and your attitude and keep it on the tech blog sites if there are any
indianman
August 4th, 2010
6:05 pm
to all you people that keep talking the red panties i can sent your some so can how they feel when you wear them so can shut your mouth up
SlawDawgorTechNerd
August 4th, 2010
6:11 pm
All of these comments make me laugh. All this back and forth bickering just makes me laugh. Whoever has the best insults, or truth, however you want to look at it, thinks they win. It’s great. I hope you can go back and laugh at yourself after you step back. Everyone at UGA thinks they rule the football world and all these Tech fans think they are god’s gift to mankind with their elitist-East-Snobb-County remarks. Oh I went there. If you step outside of the UGA vs. Tech box, this stuff is just hilarious… that people take time of their day to actually make these comments.
roughrider
August 4th, 2010
6:11 pm
If UGA is a cesspool, what is Tech after losing all those games to UGA?
jbag
August 4th, 2010
6:13 pm
i knew this one dude in high school many years ago named bubba “the chainsaw” loggins. He was hefty
joe
August 4th, 2010
6:14 pm
“Now he’ll transfer to a real school where he can get a real education and some real coaching. It didn’t take him long to figure out what a joke and a laughingstock UGA is.”
Florida is about as big a joke as a University can get. The only thing he’ll learn at Florida is how to shoot guns into a building and use a dead girl’s stolen credit card.
GT Complex?
August 4th, 2010
6:16 pm
?GT Complex?, I see maybe 5 posts that are from GT people. Alumni from other schools are on here also. You do realize that there are more than 2 universities that have college football teams? I see more comments from Florida people that Tech people. Keep stroking that complex!!!!
BTW, I am an UGA and a GT alumni (with degrees from both schools). Tell me, how many college classes have you taken????
jbag
August 4th, 2010
6:18 pm
u guys remind me of a heard of mindless cattle.
Damon Evans
August 4th, 2010
6:22 pm
Hey ” Good Sheeple” !
Sven Ottke
August 4th, 2010
6:25 pm
It’s because he saw this:
http://deadspin.com/5604273/last-nights-winner-party-in-the-uga
59bulldawg
August 4th, 2010
6:27 pm
@ Red Panties. Do you really call yourself that or do you just wear ‘em? Why don’t you run along now and play and let the grownups talk Georgia football?
TampaGator
August 4th, 2010
6:29 pm
Joe…
you are like Rush Limbaugh who keeps bringing up old stories–(Jamar Hornsby-kicked out of school for stealing the credit card several years ago–and Ronnie Wilson–kicked out of school for shooting off a repeating rifle in public several years ago–to validate his own current (Georgia’s legal issues on and off the field) lack of credibility. I can see you now….in 2050…saying the same exact thing. Florida and Meyer have cleaned the house and set the tone for a new and better football culture (the talented Frankie Hammond losing his scholarship for getting a DUI). You need to get a new line to sell whatever you are trying to sell….which has not recently been beating Florida on the football field….where it really matters….and I know….this is the year that things change….and what did I say about the “same old story.”
seriously
August 4th, 2010
6:44 pm
Jan Kemp = Uga glory Years…… HAHAHAHA your own teacher from your own town Comes out and says it…
TampaGator
August 4th, 2010
6:46 pm
Palmetto State Dawq…
Thanks for your attempt to educate me….now my turn.
As I said…Georgia’s PRIMARY defense will be the 3-4 and they will run their defense primarily out of that formation. They might shift to another formation in a fourth and long or a 3rd and short….but that is not being MULTIPLE….my DAWG loving friend.
Multiple is when the team playing you never knows what formation from one play to another your defense will be in….no matter the down and yards to go situation. That….my Dawgie friend…defines the multiple style defense of Florida vs. Georgia. Florida might be in a 5-2-4 on first and 10 and the next first and 10 they will be in a 4-3. And the next first and 10 they will be in the 3-3-5….you never know what multiple formation they will be in on first and 10. Georgia will always be in the 3-4 on first and 10 with your new DC. Does that clear things up for you and clearify YOUR knowledge system….my Dawgie friend. FLORIDA’s DEFENSE IS MORE MULTI in formations and styles of attack than Georgia….recently and this year. JUST THE FACTS…my DAWGIE FRIEND….from your LEPTILE FRIEND who knows nothing about football. Never played it. Never watched it. Never been to a Florida practice or a Florida game. Never watched Georgia play and for sure knows nothing about the 3-4 and multiple style schemes. Thanks for making me feel so stupid and just a lowly Gator. Sorry….your attempt failed.
indianman
August 4th, 2010
6:53 pm
59bulldawg i say what i want to say
gators?
August 4th, 2010
6:56 pm
haha why are gator fans on this blog?
NOW U C BY THE RACIST UGAY BLOGS,PLAYERS LEAVE
August 4th, 2010
7:00 pm
NOW I SEE WHY ALL OF OUR TOP TALENT GOES TO ALA,FLA,AUB,FSU,TENN,GA TECH,LSU NORTH CAROLINA,USC,CLEMSON,U OF MIAMI,OHIO ST,NOTRE DAME,MICH,TEXAS AND KENTUCKY! BECAUSE IF YOU READ THESE RACIST HERE ON THIS BLOG,I WOULD’NT GO 2 UgAy EITHER!
Nationally known as the Classic City
August 4th, 2010
7:04 pm
Nationwide, Athens is known as one of the elite college towns, and maybe the #1 college town in this great big country. Except in a few rival enclaves, the names UGA and Athens elicit immediate respect nationally. Ask people from Texas to North Dakota, from California to Maine, and you will get a positive response.
NOW U C BY THE RACIST UGAY BLOGS,PLAYERS LEAVE
August 4th, 2010
7:06 pm
AND 2 THE GAyTOR FANS, THE DAWGS STILL HAVE THE MOST WINS IN THE GA-FLA BORDER WAR,NOW GO CHOMP ON THAT! AND THIS IS THE YEAR THAT FLO-RIDA GOES DOWN!
rx-dawg
August 4th, 2010
7:10 pm
From a link in an earlier post…wow..just wow
Ever since Tech’s first football game in the fall of 1892, the students and fans of Georgia Tech athletics have been inventing cheers, songs, chants, etc. in encouragement of the teams. There is an extensive list cheers used at Tech events – some rooting on the Jackets and other bad-mouthing the opposing team. First and foremost is the original Tech cheer:
Differential Y,
Differential X,
To hell with differentials,
We want sex!
Engineers touchdown,
Engineers yell,
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
Fight like hell!
Another version:
Differential X,
Differential Y,
A square, B square,
Integral of pi….
Another cheer:
E to the X dy dx,
E to the X dx,
Tangent Secant Cosine Sine,
3.14159,
Square roots, cube roots, Poisson brackets,
Disintegrate ‘em Yellow Jackets!
I mean c’mon…how are we supposed to compete with that???
dawgster
August 4th, 2010
7:14 pm
TampaGator, please explain to me how you know exactly what type of defense the dawgs will be in on any given down and as i don’t believe we have played any games yet…Yes we probably will be in the 3-4 alignment in a lot of situations, i’ll give you that, but to come on here and act like you are at the dawg practices, when we know better, is really funny, why would you think that we would not disguise our defense with multiple formations….I’m is a hurry right now to get somewhere so i wish i could take more time to address you disecting of the dawgs defense..I hope Coach Todd confers with you before we take the field…Hey Palmetto State Dawg, please help educate Tampa Gator a little more
Bride of Chucky Knapp
August 4th, 2010
7:15 pm
The more I read these comments, the more confident I am that there will always be work for me as a professional writer.
poopdawg
August 4th, 2010
7:16 pm
Enough of the TEBOW TEARS!
GoDOGS1b
August 4th, 2010
7:17 pm
Moire is just a dumbazz working in his dead end loser job, with his ugly wife, and feels much better after letting his retarded rant out on an UGA FOOTBALL blog. This douche doesn’t even realize the irony of his comments. Maximum retard overdrive….
rogeriter
August 4th, 2010
7:17 pm
Whats all the stuff as to whether Dogs fans went to Georgia or Tech fans to Tech, etc. You don’t have to have been there to be a fan.
I’ll bet most Braves fans never played for the Braves or Falcon fans for the Falcons. In fact, most college football fans never finished college. Most Tech fans never went to Tech. True! Most Georgia fans never went to Ga. True. If you had to have gone there to be a fan…not many stadiums would be full. In fact, Tech’s games could be played at a Pee Wee Field! Who gives a rip if you went to a particular school.
Eaassyy
August 4th, 2010
7:20 pm
only place on earth besides a first grade classroom you’ll find so much pointless name calling and drivel spewed back and forth. about 90% of the posts on here are either “my school is better than yours” or “your school is worse than mine.”
Are the Auburn/Alabama, Oh State/Michigan, Texas/Oklahoma, (you get the point) blogs this immature and pointless?
Alabama Communist
August 4th, 2010
7:27 pm
No doubt UGA Sports fans are also Levi Quiters like his former 1/2 Governor Sara Palin…….The World is going to hell and you dudes are worry about a 18 year old at UGA and Georgia Football….
Paul in RDU
August 4th, 2010
7:34 pm
I hope things work out for the kid. If he is like most recruits, he committed to UGA before Richt made the changes in the coaching staff – even if he only “signed” afterwards. Now that there are 3 new coaches on the defensive side of the ball, along with a change in D from a 4-3 to a 3-4, the UGA football program is a little different than he expected. Better that he changes schools now than he wastes his own and UGA’s coaches’ time this season.
The “fans” blasting him, calling him a quitter, etc. should be ashamed.