Freshman LB rejoins UGA team four days after quitting
(From AJC correspondent Andy Johnston in Athens:)
Dexter Morant, the freshman linebacker who quit the Georgia football team on Tuesday, rejoined the Bulldogs today.
Coach Mark Richt said Morant called him on Friday and asked if he could return to the team.
Richt said he conferred with defensive coordinator Todd Grantham and the senior players before agreeing to let Morant return.
Morant participated on a limited basis in today’s practice.
Morant, a 6-foot-7, 240-pounder from Manning, S.C., signed with Georgia in February. He did not practice Monday, the Bulldogs’ first day of preseason camp, and told Richt the next day that he was leaving the team.
But since then, Richt said today, Morant had sent text messages to several players indicating he made a mistake by leaving.
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. He projects as an outside linebacker in Georgia’s 3-4 defensive scheme.
In other news today, wide receiver Rantavious Wooten has a sprained left knee. Richt said he expects Wooten to be sidelined for a couple of weeks.
For more on Morant’s return and other notes from Saturday’s practice, click here.
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186 comments Add your comment
Swim Time
August 8th, 2010
6:39 am
To make him happy, richt take Morant swimming. He needs a gentle approach, or he’ll leave again.
Auburn Man
August 8th, 2010
7:19 am
Yeah, like I said when this story broke this kids parents should drag his butt back to Athens to beg forgiveness. Someone said “it’s hard to make a decision to quit and even harder to admit the mistake and ask forgiveness.” After he humbled himself I think all you can do is hope for the best out of this guy in the years to come.
To Tide Roll…I understand where all your anger comes from, it would be hard for me to go to work where everyone chews tobacco on the clock and I had to wear a shirt with my name embroidered on the pocket. And if that’s not bad enough I had to pull for the biggest redneck team in the country. That’s a lot to deal with when you have so many mental and emotional limitations.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2010
7:52 am
Pollack quit and rejoined the team minutes later, it just took this kid a little longer to figure it out.
AltamahaDawg
August 8th, 2010
7:54 am
Roll, actually I AM like Bean Anderson. I can whiff at a block with the best of them.
ugag is irrelevant
August 8th, 2010
8:30 am
we gotta stop whacking ugag …. it’s like hunting in a baited field … my sides are splitting
Hang n there
August 8th, 2010
8:34 am
Glad to see you back on the team. Hang in there!
mike
August 8th, 2010
8:41 am
tide roll, get off the toilet and wipe your mouth , worry about lsu and arkansas,auburn
NOT THE DAWGS
Roy
August 8th, 2010
8:42 am
Jerry Rice said yesterday, as he was inducted into the hall of fame, that “fear of failure” was what drove him. He said people had no idea how insecure he was inside. And that insecurity is what drove him to condition and practice so hard.
You have to learn how to use fear and insecurity, instead of let it use you.
joe
August 8th, 2010
8:59 am
Hypocrites!!! Several of your UGA homers posted comments like “good riddance” and “we didn’t want him anyway” or “he wasn’t good enough to play for us…let him join Tech.” And now that he has come back, ya’ll have turned 180. Typical…
» SEC: Social networking brings problems for coaches, players John Clay’s Sidelines
August 8th, 2010
9:04 am
[...] Freshman linebacker rejoins Georgia four days after quitting, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC. [...]
Joey
August 8th, 2010
9:07 am
Don’t be so afraid of not reaching your goals/potential that you don’t even try. God has blessed you with an amazing opportunity, be faithful with your gift. Have some faith in yourself kid.
Billy
August 8th, 2010
9:12 am
Just work really hard, practice hard, train hard, study hard, be the #1 hardest working dude on the team, and everything else will work itself out. It all comes down to work ethic. Hard work is the best anti-dote to fear.
King Gator
August 8th, 2010
9:31 am
~ Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit. ~ Vince Lombardi
TheWad
August 8th, 2010
9:37 am
What you wan to bet he went home to see most of his HS buddies sitting around waiting for nothing to happen in their lives and had a new perspective and great picture of the opportunity he left in Athens. Sometimes a change of scenery can give us a different focus. Glad he came back to the best opportunity he will ever have in life…a college education. Play hard and learn to overcome adversity. This will make you ready for the real world.
Roll Tide…shut up. As a teacher for over a decade I can tell you many learning disabilities go hidden for years(even into college years). The affected person has usually become adept(accomplished at) hiding the problem so they can get by in life. You have no clue about how or why those lineman were moved. It`s peopel like you who remind me that after being born in Alabama, I moved from the state at 6 mos old. I realized I was already smarter and had more common sense than the whole state could offer!
no matter
August 8th, 2010
9:43 am
so he is not a quitter. Glad his is back.
Columbus Dawg
August 8th, 2010
9:55 am
Anyone know what this so called embarrassing video is supposed to be on Rivals pay site?
The Mole
August 8th, 2010
10:02 am
If any of you idiots knew how many kids use to pack their bags and go home. Coach Russell had us baby siiting them. You know most all of them stayed. The internet blows it all out of prortion.
harold
August 8th, 2010
10:11 am
I AM A BELIEVER NOW. IF GEORGIA CAN DEFEAT STEVE SPURRIERS BEST TEAM EVER AT SOUTH CAROLINA, THE DAWGS WILL RUN THE TABLES AND DEFEAT ALABAMA IN THE SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. THEN GEORGIA DEFEATS OHIO STATE IN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.BECAUSE OF ALL THE GREAT TALENT,THE FIVE YEAR DROUGHT OF NOT EVEN MAKING THE SEC TITLE GAME, FINALLY ENDS. THE 30 YEAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP DROUGHT ENDS THIS YEAR TOO AS GEORGIA WILL FINALLY RUN THE TABLES!
Quitters Rule!
August 8th, 2010
11:09 am
Take back quitters! Only at UGA–Richt’s getting desperate to save his job. Paul Johnson would never let a quitter back on the team.
DNice
August 8th, 2010
11:10 am
I heard that he was joking with friends about being just like Brett HAHAHAHAH., I just had to throw that one out there. Good luck to the kid I hope he finds his place in life.
fish2774
August 8th, 2010
11:19 am
Everyone we need to support this young man. It’s not easy leaving home for the first time and we all have experienced it. Let’s not say he quit because he did have the courage to callback after realizing his mistake. Hopefully his teammates will help pick him up to show him that he’s not alone.
Dawgtards ruin this state
August 8th, 2010
11:22 am
I’d rather have a quitter on my team than another felon, more free entertainment from thUGA
UGA VIII
August 8th, 2010
11:29 am
Give a kid a break. Good luck Morant.
Joey
August 8th, 2010
12:42 pm
Dexter’s been watchinig Brett Favre! Just kidding. Get on in here and stick somebody!
Techies embarrass this state
August 8th, 2010
12:47 pm
Lubriderm Hand Cream Pre Season Poll
********************************************
#1 Ga Tech – Number 1 in hand cream sales among US colleges!
59bulldawg
August 8th, 2010
12:50 pm
Welcome back son! Now let’s get after it.
Matt the Brave
August 8th, 2010
1:15 pm
You know, he’s 18, probably the first time away from home, and freaked out a bit by the play of the SEC. I’m glad that he actually had the cojones to call Coach Richt and ASK to be added back instead of demanding it. Hopefully he worked out whatever he had going and will flourish here.
Buzzzed
August 8th, 2010
1:16 pm
His parents were like “YOU DID WHAT?!”
Tide Rising
August 8th, 2010
1:19 pm
Good for the young man and great that the dawg players welcomed him back. His first time away from home he was probably just homesick and ended up making a mistake in leaving. That was a mistake that he probably would have regretted the rest of his life. Hope he has a good career at Georgia.
Tide Rising
August 8th, 2010
1:24 pm
Tide Roll,
As DP (another Bama fan) said you are indeed an embarrassment to the crimson tide fans everywhere. I’m not even sure you really are an Alabama fan. What is it with you that you seem so obsessed with who the dawgs start on their O-line? What the hell does it matter to you that you post the same drivel every day on the dawg blog? Good grief. If you can’t say something interesting or neutral on someone else’s blog then don’t say anything at all. And if you really are a bama fan then at least learn that its roll tide and not tide roll. Idiot!
destin dawg
August 8th, 2010
1:32 pm
Auburn… I knew some Auburn folks once.. probably not grads.. from LA.. = Lower Alabama ? they were chicken farmers.. beer drinkers by day.. they chewed tobacco.. might be rednecks.. hard to understand ???
BigCaliDawg
August 8th, 2010
1:46 pm
Wow. Soft out of conference scheduling? Really? Has anyone checked out Fla, or Aub’s out of conference schedules over the past decade?
How would last season have looked if we had not scheduled OK State and the refs didn’t screw us in the LSU (in conference, I know) game? Last season was extremely sloppy, but not as poor as the record indicated. We could have easily been 10-3, but that’s sour grapes from a DAWG fan and last season is over.
Regarding discipline………I believe the Athens police are one of the few entities in the country that are still in the black, cuz they write tickets like a mofo.
Here in California, underage drinking on college campuses is considered to be part of the college experience and is not enforced. True, drinking and driving cannot be tolerated, but why so many M.I.P’s?
I feel that UGA is just more proactive than other schools. Wanna see lenient? Look at USC…..Many, many programs simply sweep things under the rug, or look the other way. Everything gets addressed here, because everything is exposed.
Thinks other colleges have this level of scrutiny. Out here in the Bay Area, they think I need more to do cuz I blog about UGA. In some places, college football is an afterthought, and folks just have better things to do.
We certainly lead an examined college football life here…….by our own fans, and from fans who follow weak arse teams and wanna be like us……….
CMR sends kids packin’ all the time
Joey
August 8th, 2010
1:51 pm
Tide Rising, he is a Techie, who after Tech’s win in ‘08 til Nov 09 went by the posting name of “saint simons”, “yellow fuzz,” etc, etc. estatically writing 45-42 hahahahahahahahahahah.
That’s over and done with, so instead of taking their medicine, they call themselves a UF or Bama fan, cause, what else do they have?
romeo
August 8th, 2010
2:11 pm
A this aqe kids don’t quit one day and ask to come back the next . I am a Dog fan and I say let his ass go back to Monks Corner in SC this is the SEC no room for double minded kids it rubs off on the other kids,
Tide Rising
August 8th, 2010
2:28 pm
Joey,
You’re probably right. The fact that the idiot continues to post tide roll instead of roll tide made me wonder just what kind of an Bama fan he could be. Besides, some of us such as DP and myself will make occasional comments on the dog blog as long as we’re not flaming but I never did understand why the hell a rival fan would rant about whose starting on another team’s O-line. Makes no sense at all. But if its just saint simons or yellow fuzz than obviously that does make sense. Mystery solved.
Paul in RDU
August 8th, 2010
2:44 pm
Tide Rising and joey
Tide Roll is a bizarre individual but he doesn’t remind me of Saint Simons, Yellow Fuzz or m – those 3 morons likely couldn’t name UGA’s starting RBs, let alone the OL. He is a troll but appears much more obsessed with skin color than anything else.
poopdawg
August 8th, 2010
3:36 pm
Little harold, please go back to sleep with Saban and Meyer.
poopdawg
August 8th, 2010
3:38 pm
Tide Roll is a racist pig who obviously doesn’t like UGA’s white offensive lineman!
Pago Pago Dawg
August 8th, 2010
3:50 pm
What’s the big deal about “going away” for college? I drove from West Palm Beach to Athens not knowing anybody and I survived! Come on people….
Rita
August 8th, 2010
3:51 pm
With this attitude, this jerkoff will never amount to anything.
Give him a few pairs of red panties and send him back to his mommy.
The Mad Hatter
August 8th, 2010
3:56 pm
… they call themselves a UF or Bama fan, cause, what else do they have?
Well, morals, brains, and ethics, for one thing. Things that are sadly lacking in UGAy dawgtards.
Rhea
August 8th, 2010
3:59 pm
we gotta stop whacking ugag …. it’s like hunting in a baited field … my sides are splitting
You’re right. The target is just too big and easy to hit.
dawgster
August 8th, 2010
4:02 pm
Hey to all of you Bama fans with alot of class…Thanks for giving it to “Tide Roll”, I hope he will listen to what you are telling him…and to “Tide Rising..thanks for letting him no that it is not Tide Roll, but indeed “Roll Tide”…Again a thanks from dawg fans, maybe we can return the favor…
Biggs
August 8th, 2010
4:04 pm
MEMO TO UGA: AD Damon Evans wants dawg nation to Remember in 2010 its all about “red & black pride”…so…Don’t forget to proudly wave your pair of red panties at kick off – courtesy of the ever so classy Courtney Furhmann !!!!
GO JACKETS…THWG
poopdawg
August 8th, 2010
4:38 pm
Biggs , ever seen any red panties?
Lee Anne
August 8th, 2010
4:45 pm
Maybe Richt could give the kid some cookies and milk, and tuck him in bed every night.
Or give him some red panties to fondle.
Good grief, the guy’s just another illiterate dawgtard, why worry over him.
POSER
August 8th, 2010
5:28 pm
We all got fooled. Tide Roll used to be Saint Simmons!
FRED
August 8th, 2010
6:13 pm
GOOD LOOK KID. JUST TRY HARD AND KEEP YOUR HEAD ON LEVEL.
Perspective
August 8th, 2010
6:36 pm
WHO CARES!!
UGA fan
August 8th, 2010
9:52 pm
Dexter, don’t pay any attention to any negative comments. They are from UGA haters pretending to be UGA fans. True fans respect you for having the courage to admit you made a mistake and understand that 18 year olds sometimes have doubts. Now that you realize what you could have given up, you will no doubt be more confident and committed in your decision to be a bulldog.