Missouri’s Sheldon Richardson apologizes to Mark Richt after Georgia’s win (UPDATED)
Missouri defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson apologizes to Georgia coach Mark Richt after the Bulldogs 41-20 win in Columbia, Mo., on Saturday. (AP photo by L.G. Patterson)
FIVE MORE THINGS
Wrapping up this past weekend and looking forward to this one.
The Georgia Bulldogs are coming off a 41-20 win over Missouri in the SEC opener for both teams. The Bulldogs are now 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the SEC as they head into Saturday’s game against visiting Florida Atlantic (1-1, 0-1 Sun Belt).
1. Last thing on “Old Man Football, Hopefully forever. I do want to give credit where credit is due. Sheldon Richardson, the Missouri defensive lineman who infamously coined that phrase for Georgia, came up to Bulldogs coach Mark Richt after the game to apologize. Pretty impressive considering how easy it could have been for him to just slink off to the Tigers’ locker room.
For what it’s worth, Richardson was not made available for interviews after the game and is not available today, as a Missouri beat writer tells. That’s why you haven’t seen him quoted anywhere. But Missouri coach Gary Pinkel addressed on Monday and said Richardson’s apololgy was “not orchestrated by us.”
“People make mistakes, you know, and get second chances,” Pinkel told reporters. “That’s all part of maturing. I think that’s a good statement on his part.”
Below is a video that shows the on-field celebration by the Bulldogs after the game. Obviously everybody was pretty pumped after the game. . . .
2. Georgia remained at No. 7 both in The Associated Press writer’s poll and the USA Today coaches’ poll. The Bulldogs, of course, started the season at No. 6 but dropped a spot in both polls after a ho-hum 45-23 win over Buffalo in the opener.
By the way, South Carolina moved up to No. 8 right behind Georgia after its 48-10 win over East Carolina and a really bad night for previous No. 8 Arkansas. The Gamecocks (2-0, 1-0 SEC) play host to UAB this Saturday, then get Missouri at Williams-Brice on Sept. 22. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare against the Tigers, who seemed like a pretty game club to me. Mizzou, by the way, plays host to Arizona State on Saturday.
3. As I mentioned, UGA has Florida Atlantic — or FAU, as they like to call themselves — coming into Athens this weekend. The Owls are members of the same Sun Belt Conference as Louisiana-Monroe, which pulled off a shocking upset of eight-ranked Arkansas 34-31 in overtime. Certainly that victory has made believers out of everybody in the Sun Belt and will give the Bulldogs’ coaches plenty of fodder for team motivation. But from what I’ve seen I don’t think FAU is quite on par with their conference brethren.
The Owls this past weekend lost this 31-17 to Middle Tennessee State. Apparently ball security is an issue for them. They’ve had six fumbles in two games, including four in the 7-6 win over Wagner. Meanwhile, La-Monroe continues its tour of the SEC. Next stop: Auburn on Saturday.
4. Kind of lost in the late-game heroics displayed by Jarvis Jones in Georgia’s win over Missouri on Saturday was the spectacular play of split end Marlon Brown. the big senior from Memphis had a career-best 8 catches for 106 yards and caught two big TD passes for the Bulldogs. He was asked afterward if he thought it was a “break-out game” for him.
“Yes, definitely, sure,” he said. “It feels pretty good but there’s always room for improvement. I’m going to go back and watch film and see what I can improve on and try to get better every week.”
That’s typical of Brown. He’s an incredibly humble kid who has had to overcome a lot of injuries — not to mention high expectations — since he’s been at Georgia. He was more excited to talk about how the Bulldogs finished Saturday’s game. They scored 24 unanswered points to put it away.
“We came in at halftime and heard a great speech from Coach Richt,” Brown said. “He said the last two ballgames we didn’t finish the drill. After that, we were like, ‘Man, he’s right. Let’s finish the drill like Coach Richt said.’ And we did.”
5. Other news items from Monday, Georgia’s Sept. 22 home date against Vanderbilt got picked up by ESPN2 for a 7:45 p.m. broadcast, Jones was named Walter Camp national and SEC defensive player of the week. And don’t forget “Russ” gets his official sworn in as Uga IX on Saturday.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
341 comments Add your comment
Herschel's Other Personality
September 10th, 2012
6:53 pm
Why does it seem like Richard Samuel has been a Georgia Bulldog for 10 years and Marlon Brown 2 years and yet both are Seniors?
Around the League — Sept. 10 « the13thirtythrees
September 10th, 2012
6:54 pm
[...] Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Missouri’s Richardson Makes Amends with Richt After Georgia̵… [...]
Kids???
September 10th, 2012
6:55 pm
It takes a man to humble himself and apologize and anyone with decency should respect that, but please stop calling 18-21 year olds kids! That’s why they act like kids, because you treat them like they are. If you didn’t know, you only have to be 17 years old to get sent to prison. And yes, adults make mistakes too, so there’s no need to call them kids, just because they make mistakes!
Go Dawgs! You showed great heart last weekend! Keep rolling!
LakeDawg
September 10th, 2012
7:00 pm
kingdaddy
I agree. Mizzou played us very tough and I would like to thank them. They forced UGA to grow up. They pressed us and made us make the decision of losing another road game like the past 5 yrs or so OR taking our game to another level. With this game under our belts, I believe that UGA will be very hard to beat the rest of the season.
Dumbo
September 10th, 2012
7:00 pm
GTBob….is disliked as much in Tech’s blog as he is in here, he is 1 of 3 that come by here to stir things up….so I go in over there state my case that I’m there because of GTBob or 1 of his breatheren and I’m there to start a mess….they get real unhappy in a hurry, at me, but more so at Bob or 1 of the other trolls….now you know way Bob left
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
7:04 pm
Are we at that point where a football player can’t do even a little trash-talking before a game? The press played it up like he took a steamer on the Uga tomb at Sanford. Richt should have apologized to him and Pinkel for the Georgia players acting like they won the national championship after Mizzou handed them their azz-z for three quarters of the game.
kral
September 10th, 2012
7:07 pm
down 17-9 is azz whimping…
Habersham Dawg
September 10th, 2012
7:08 pm
GT Bob, I normally respect your chutzpah to get on these blogs and voice your opinion. Many times I was agreeing with you, and I was with you right up to where you called Sheldon Richardson a coward and repeated it and repeated it. I disagree. A coward avoids confrontation and the possibility of harm or criticism. Sheldon Richardson did not at the end of the game. He sought out the head coach of the visiting team and manned up about his “old man football” comment, instead of running off the field and avoiding it. I believe he acted with honor and I hope the players on both sides saw his actions and will act similarly down the rode.
kral
September 10th, 2012
7:09 pm
should have been whipping ????
Rick James
September 10th, 2012
7:09 pm
@rm
GTBob
I respect people for backing up what they say and not cowering to media pressure or coaches demands. This guy talked big and ran off like a little girl in the end.
You have very strong opinions on an educated guess at best. You have no idea why the kid did what he did. You are assuming the worst because it proves what??? The SEC is bad… you are a fool and everything you say confirms that. Feel free to comeback with some weak comment but rest assured everyone on this board who has an ounce of maturity knows you are a fool.
——————————————————————————————————————————
Amen brother..
SiddyBoy
September 10th, 2012
7:13 pm
Sheldon Richardson should be apologizing to his team and the Mizzou faithful.He certainly contributed to the Dawgs’ motivation to GATA !!!
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
7:15 pm
@kral. When a team that has only one, maybe two guys that could start for the opponent is leading and has seemed like the team in control…yeah.
But that’s okay, I can’t wait to see he students storm the field against Vandy. This is the new mindset of UGA football.
Rick James
September 10th, 2012
7:16 pm
@10-2 is a good year! Right
Are we at that point where a football player can’t do even a little trash-talking before a game? The press played it up like he took a steamer on the Uga tomb at Sanford. Richt should have apologized to him and Pinkel for the Georgia players acting like they won the national championship after Mizzou handed them their azz-z for three quarters of the game.
—————————————————————————————————————————
Hey Tech Troll,
Maybe if Tech kicks Georgia around for three quarters and loses by 21 you can brag about that too..What an idiotic obsevation..Georgia kicked LSU around for the first half last year but you saw how it ended. You obviously didnt see the way the Tech team and its fans acted after they beat Clemson last year.Go pop your pimples.
Eisendawg
September 10th, 2012
7:17 pm
I thought all along it was going to be a tough game, it being Mizzou’s first game, and having to play at their place, and it sure looked bad for awhile. But, to the Dawgs credit, they fought hard and finally took over the game. There were a number of mistakes by both teams, but the one that really did Mizzou in, seemed to me, to be the fake punt that Richard Samuel blew up. God, I love that kid. Not sure if it was Sheldon’s comments, or the large number of doubters, or that awful yellow all over the stadium, but the Dawgs hung in there, and basically wore Mizzou down. Maybe, the strength and conditioning program deserves some credit. Maybe, the Dawgs saw all that yellow, and thought they were playing Tech. Whatever it was, it sure felt good!
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
7:22 pm
@Rick James
Let’s see. LSU celebrated an SEC championship and right to go to play for a MNC. Tech beat the #5 team in the country. Georgia beat an unranked, overmatched opponent in a regular season game. So who’s observation is idiotic again?
OrlandoDawg
September 10th, 2012
7:37 pm
I will be pulling for Mizzo, great addition to the SEC….Sheldon, classy move…have a great year!
Tom Heard
September 10th, 2012
7:39 pm
Hey Chip, Thanks for covering this story! First Class by you and him……
OrlandoDawg
September 10th, 2012
7:39 pm
sure wish marlon would have redshirted!
BigDawg
September 10th, 2012
7:40 pm
Can’t wait to Pound the Vols!!! Orange Is Ugly, whether it’s Tennessee, Florida, or Clemson! Go Dawgs Sic Em
Rick James
September 10th, 2012
7:44 pm
@10-2 is a good year! Right?
@Rick James
Let’s see. LSU celebrated an SEC championship and right to go to play for a MNC. Tech beat the #5 team in the country. Georgia beat an unranked, overmatched opponent in a regular season game. So who’s observation is idiotic again?
—————————————————————————————————————————-
Yours is still idiotic..The Clemson victory did nothing for Tech.Second Clemson was a fraud at number 5 and third you’re obviously not bright enough to understand the point I was making about Georgia and LSU.But I’m sure you remember how Tech fans acted the last time thay beat Georgia right.How highly ranked was Georgia when you clowns acted like you won the national championship? I know its been a few years but I’m sure you remember.
kingdaddy
September 10th, 2012
7:46 pm
10-2
Clempson deserved a #5 ranking like Arkansas deserved to be in the top 10 lol…
BUG SQUASHER
September 10th, 2012
7:48 pm
GTBob you will eat your words come november. You bugs will go down again. Not really fun smacking you any more. You yellow flies knows its coming,and your joke of a coach. This will be his last year. WE OWN THIS STATE,GO DAWGS
Ghost of Erk
September 10th, 2012
7:51 pm
MIZ-97: As you may know, the Dawgs have had their own bad luck w/ new unis, so we feel your pain. Your team’s fans are terrific; were very welcoming to us – - so thanks, and I hope we can return the favor next year. It was a great game. Make no mistake, Mizzou (and A&M) are definitely SEC-worthy. Just need a year or two to built that depth of roster that the good SEC teams have. That makes all the difference in these physical games. Now, go kick some Gamecock and Gator and Vol butt…
Slippery Rock Winners and Losers
September 10th, 2012
7:52 pm
Joe Jenkins… We have had 4 key contributers suspended on the defensive side of the ball. I fully expect the defense to look completely diffferent with Tree, Commings, Rambo and Vasser back!
The thing you need to worry about is how many dumb penalties a couple of these knuckleheads are known to commit with games on the line and you know who I am talking about.
BUG SQUASHER
September 10th, 2012
7:53 pm
SHELDON manning up earns a lot of respect. He was a pretty good player along with the linebacker. Missou will wins some games in the sec this year.
rm
September 10th, 2012
7:53 pm
@10-2 is a good year! Right?
How is winning 20-17 at the half and completely dominating from 3min to go in the 3rd on getting our azz handed to us for 3 quarters??? The game was a little close for comfort in the firt half but you are definitely looking at it thru black and gold colored lenses…
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
7:57 pm
@Rick James
Cocaine really is a h-ll of a drug,…1st. Tech’s win over Clemson was against an undefeated team and kept them alive in the ACC. I’d say that was worth celebrating at the time. 2nd. I don’t think you are bright enough to understand your own point, much less the one I made about LSU/UGA. 3rd. UGA was ranked #11 and beat UGA at home.
It’s okay buddy. Celebrate the win against the unranked team that basically gave you the game in the 4th quarter. I’ll check to see if you are defending this team when the blockhead coaching staff costs them a game in a few more weeks.
In the meantime, is that win over Hawaii still the pride and joy of Bull-dawg-nation?
DHM
September 10th, 2012
7:57 pm
As an Auburn alum, we all have a bunch of young kids who say and do stupid things. I applaud Mr. Richardson for showing a great deal of class!!! I also applaud Coach Richt!!!! As an Auburn fan, I hold the utmost respect for Coach Richt!!! If I had a son who was capable of playing college football, I would be honored for him to play for such a fine man!!!! One could play for Saban and get a ring or three, but I would rather trust my son’s future in the hand of Coach Richt!!! Not everyone will go to the NFL. Richt takes boys and makes men out of them. Congratulations UGA, Mark Richt screems CLASS!!!! War Eagle
Eric C.
September 10th, 2012
7:59 pm
Great to see a classy move by Sheldon. Tigers East have a good defense…I was impressed with how well they stood up in the first half and really most of the game…will be pulling for them next few games.
GTBob
September 10th, 2012
8:03 pm
A coward avoids confrontation and the possibility of harm or criticism. Sheldon Richardson did not at the end of the game.
Instead of being a man and owning what he said, he went over and apologized like a little girl. Sorry, but I consider that cowardly. Remember last year when UGA fans were upset with Mark Richt after he apologized for his players and coaches who almost started a fight after the Vandy game? Its similar to that. If you have nothing to apologize for and you apologize anyways then you fear some kind of backlash is coming and you are giving in to that fear. That is cowardly in and of itself.
GTBob
September 10th, 2012
8:08 pm
GTBob you will eat your words come november. You bugs will go down again. Not really fun smacking you any more.
So when UGA beats Tech in November I will eat my words about Sheldon Richardson. Got it.
GTBob
September 10th, 2012
8:11 pm
Missou will wins some games in the sec this year.
They will beat Kentucky and Vandy. They don’t have much of a chance against anyone else. They might give Texas A&M a game.
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
8:12 pm
to everyone saying how good Mizzou was:
They finshed 5th in a terrible league last year. They beat nobody of any significance last season. Their QB is really not an effective passer and they are undersized everywhere. The so-called #7 and third best team in the SEC should beaten them like a drum, but Missouri had the game in control until the lack of size and speed finally caught up to them. So yeah, they handed UGA their behinds for most of the game, though the scoreboard didn’t show it, just like the score 41-20 really doesn’t mean Georgia dominated either.
When unranked Arizona State goes in there this week and flat-out destroys Missouri, because “the Zou” just isn’t really that good or intimidating, what will you all say then, that the UGA game is the reason Missouri lost? some of you guys are delusional.
And I’m not a Tech fan
son's who?
September 10th, 2012
8:13 pm
I think GTBob owes Sheldon Richardson an apology. Who Knows what was even said between Coach Richt and Mr. Richardson? Who knows Mr. Richardson’s motivation for approaching Coach Richt? No one on this Blog.
Yet, GTBob calls Mr. Richardson a coward and said he “talked big and ran off like a little girl in the end”.
Mr. Richardson insulted an opposing teams schematic approach to offense, and GTBob insulted the very same kid personally.
Bob Ritter
September 10th, 2012
8:13 pm
Sloppery Rock:
Don’t know your intelligence level of college football but MU led UGA for almost 3 quarters and lost due to a bad call and 2 mistakes. Georgia didn’t beat MU … MU beat themselves. MU will have a winning season in the “SEC” whose fans think their conference ” does not stink ” because that’s all they know in the south. MU fans have other interest, especially academics and that is more than I can say about many SEC athletic programs and many of their fans like you !
Matt_STL
September 10th, 2012
8:15 pm
As a Mizzou extremist I think I speak for the knowledgeable side of our fan base in saying that we all quietly wanted Sheldon to put his foot in his mouth as soon as he made the ‘old man’ comment… That being said, I’m glad he apologized. I once had the pleasure (or lack of pleasure because he is huge) of sitting next to Sheldon on a plane flight from Los Angeles to St. Louis (the trojans were courting him…) he is a good kid. He has a big personality and he was just trying to get the team fired up in saying what he did. As for UGA—quite a squad you guys have— Jarvis Jones will haunt my dreams forever. And to think you guys were missing Rambo and Co. on D—wow… The game went pretty much how I thought it would— you guys just have more depth and defensive playmakers… My biggest fear about the SEC was realized on saturday— We just don’t have the depth. Hopefully we wil be able to recruit more depth in years to come but we are walking into this ASU game a crippled bunch.
Always respected Georgia— don’t like Spurrier, hate Florida, hate Saban, Les Miles sucks at coaching— thats about it… and Mississipi State and Tennessee are so overrated… Mizzou will win at Tennessee… See you guys in Athens next year.
Good luck
‘
Eric C.
September 10th, 2012
8:19 pm
@10-2 is a good year! Right? “When unranked Arizona State goes in there this week and flat-out destroys Missouri”
wth are you talking about? The line is Mizzou -7
The Bear
September 10th, 2012
8:22 pm
Very Classy!
GTBob
September 10th, 2012
8:23 pm
wth are you talking about? The line is Mizzou -7
Arizona St will more than likely beat Mizzou.
The Bear
September 10th, 2012
8:24 pm
@Matt_STL Welcome to the SEC.
Eric C.
September 10th, 2012
8:25 pm
@Bob Ritter @Matt_STL…most UGA fans have a lot of respect for your team and it wouldn’t surprise me to eventually see them in the top half of the league. I was concerned the Dawgs were going to lose through much of the 3rd quarter.
Matt_STL
September 10th, 2012
8:31 pm
Bob Ritter– I like that you are a Mizzou fan with me but we DID NOT beat ourselves on Saturday night– Yes, we made some mistakes, but Georgia physically pounded us like only Oklahoma used to do in the big 12… Look at the injury report dude, that was physical football and we could not keep our head above water for 4 quarters… It is unfair to not give Georgia credit— we’ve seen this story before…like we Chase Daniel and Co would hang with the sooners for 3 quarters only to fall apart physically in the 4th Q… give credit where it is due. we’ll be alright
10-2 is a good year! Right?
September 10th, 2012
8:33 pm
I watched both Missouri and Arizona State play. Vastly different opponents, but Arizona State has some weapons and played pretty good defense. If they weren’t playing on the west coast, they would be getting some attention. Just watch.
Bitter DA'TRICK ROGERS
September 10th, 2012
8:34 pm
@GT/BOB—-Shut the F__K UP—–Sheldon did a good thang
——-is what it is———go Practice the OPTION—-LOOSER
7576DAWG
September 10th, 2012
8:34 pm
The final score against Missouri is not indicative of how tough they played Georgia . After Georgia went ahead Missouri was forced to play catch up and abandon their strategy of offense. When you fade back to pass on every play it is a lot easier for the defense to sack the QB and force a turn over or intercept.
The same thing happened to Georgia last year with L.S.U. If all you look at was the final score of 42-10 , it looks like L.S.U. beat us like a rented mule but everybody knows that was not the case. We made a lot of mistakes after Georgia started to play catch up in the late 3rd and fourth quarters and a great team will take advantage of those mistakes.
Georgia finally took control of the game because of our depth was better than Missouri but as long as number 34 and number 57 and Franklin are health every team that plays Missouri this year better respect them as a very good team. We did not beat the hell out of them , like the final score indicates. They are a good team ans will beat some other good teams this year.
Bitter DA'TRICK ROGERS
September 10th, 2012
8:37 pm
PROPS TO MIZZO————-MAKE THE SEC PROUD THIS SATURDAY
———STOMP ASU
virginia baird
September 10th, 2012
8:40 pm
This is for GTbob,how’s that CHOPBLOCKING(not by mistake) working out for ya’ll?
Doddamndogs
September 10th, 2012
8:43 pm
MIZZ showed a lot of class, I would like us to do the same. Their place was rocking. They have this alum’s repect. Welcome to the SEC!
AltamahaDawg
September 10th, 2012
8:43 pm
I see the headline is changed to now say he congrats Richt. As I thought, he was more so just meeting one of the most respected coaches in the new league and putting out the hand of sportsmanship. Who knows what was really said. I suspect it was not a hardcore apology for the comments. None required.
Richardson showed a lot more class than the little tweerp AP homer who tried to steal some spotlight, and craft a story to make UGA player look bad.
jj
September 10th, 2012
8:44 pm
He said a dumb thing but manned up in the end. Speaks well to his character.