“Mature,” Stetson Bennett said recently, by paying tribute to his teammates on Georgiaoffense. “We’ve got grown men.”
He should know.
The truth is that there aren’t many players in College football As mature as Bennett is, both in his mental approach, and in the inevitable fact that by typical college education standards, the Bulldogs quarterback is a pretty old guy.
Bennett, a sixth year senior who is still raving about the pig skin in college caused by a combination of red shirts, COVID exemptions, and the transfer game “goodbye, hello again” “, recently celebrated his 25th birthday early one night, before being knocked out. Florida the next day to keep the Bulldogs ranked #1 in the country.
He’s older than some National Football League midfielder. Scratch it, he’s a year older ton of the NFL QBs. He’s older Justin Herbertwho is already a famous star, and Jalen Hurts, who gave the league’s MVP awards a surprising shake. He’s only a few months younger Kyler Murrayfirst pick in the NFL Draft took place 42 months ago.
He was born in the same year (1997) as Lamar Jacksonwho’s been around long enough and good enough that his next contract counts to the point of costing him a million dollars a week.
Trevor Lawrence, Tagovailoa, Zach Wilson and Justin Fields young enough that Bennett might have robbed them of their place in the lunchroom if they had been in high school together. Trey Lancesecond year starts for San Francisco until his injury? In comparison, he was just an infant, 22 years old.
Georgia has benefited from Bennett’s shrewd play and veteran philosophy over the past few seasons, his intelligence and class an advantage head coach Kirby Smart is forever grateful for. week. Sub-centre experience has always been a guaranteed advantage for the Bulldogs, until, possibly, this week.
Because Georgia is about to take 2nd place Tennessee In what can only be described as the biggest blockbuster of the season so far – a 1-on-2 match in Athens – the guy is poised to make plays for the other side, also undefeated, as well. seen and done a lot.
Hendon Hooker, now considered by many to be the Heisman Trophy’s favorite player, is also in his sixth season in college and, like Bennett, has experienced adversity and struggles. Hooker knows that in a season of opportunities for Volunteers, this is the biggest rollout, unless winning leads to bigger opportunities ahead.
Hooker will turn 25 in January, which naturally means he’s another person who will be right at home, age-wise, in a sideline chat of NFL signal callers. For what it’s worth, Bennett is bigger than the 16 QBs who have hit it off this season. Hooker is 15 years older, only Carolina Panthers backup Jacob Eason among this weekend’s competitors on the birthday list.
Ahead of this breakout season marked by a thrilling victory Alabama that Tennessee could never stop celebrating, Hooker fought for four years in Virginia Technology show was going on continuously, then another show in Knoxville gave the first indication of a significant increase coming.
He found his place and found his favorite target, the early receiver Jalin Hyattand he also gets weekly appreciation from the Tennessee coaching staff, after 21 touchdowns and just one interception during the season.
Vols QB coach Joey Halzle told reporters: “We have such a close relationship where we can call anything. “He’s confident that what we’re putting into the game will make sense and then if it doesn’t work for either, we can do it. This helps with game planning. it’s a lot easier on the front end.”
As for Bennett, he continued his education in Georgia, transferred to Jones County Middle School, returned to represent Jake Frommwon the starting job, lost it and won it again, and was even linked with a transfer after winning the national championship last year.
It’s clear he’s still around with the rather unique feeling of a player who could soon boast an incredible resume with two national titles and growing NFL Draft prospects, but still has Rudy-esque feeling about him.
“Well, he’s a bit better than Rudy, I would say,” Smart said above Duke basketball icon Mike Krzyzewski of the Sirius XM show earlier this year. “What does it say about his character that he’s stuck and that he keeps working to get better? That’s what you have to do in life, overcoming obstacles and obstacles.”
The stories of Bennett and Hooker are a nice reminder in a way that college football is not, and should never be, supposed to be one size fits all. That it’s a place to grow, and that growth doesn’t have to happen all at once.
If, amid the dizzying change that continues through the portal, it emerges that college football is still a place where the sunken stages of a player’s career can be trained and learn from that, it’s not a bad thing.
If the possibility of second and third chances for developers is a bit late or it takes time to find their optimal position, it means that people like Bennett and Hooker are finally getting their moment. theirs, the game wins.
This weekend, however, only one of them can.
Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider newsletter. Follow him on Twitter @MRogersFOX and subscribe to daily newsletter.
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