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LOOK: UGA legend Erk Russell’s letter to 1980 national championship team

Erk Russell was Georgia's defensive coordinator from 1964-80. He penned "The Letter" that still resonates today.
AJC/file photo
Cy Brown
Cy Brown

Welcome to Good Day, UGA, your one-stop shop for Georgia football news and takes. Check us out every weekday morning for everything you need to know about Georgia football, recruiting, basketball and more. 

‘This is the Game Plan. We have no alternate plan.’

With Georgia football potentially on the verge of its first national championship since 1980, there’s been a lot of nostalgia for that ‘80 title team. Herschel Walker himself drew parallels between his title-winning team and the 2017 squad, and the defense has drawn comparisons to the “Junkyard Dawgs.”

One artifact that I’ve seen circulating among Georgia fans is the “The Letter,” penned by legendary Georgia defensive coordinator Erk Russell to his players ahead of the 1980 season. Most of the letter concerns Russell’s affinity for THE RAILROAD TRACK CROWD — a.k.a. the folks who watched Georgia games from the tracks outside Sanford Stadium before the east end zone was built up — and why Georgia should work to field it’s best team ever in honor of the folks he affectionately calls “my people.”

You can read the entirety of “The Letter” in the tweet below, or check here for a larger version. And since it’s a slow Friday in the doldrums of the pre-bowl season lull, I thought I would highlight my favorite passage of Russell’s epistle. His final two paragraphs are some of my favorite words ever written about Georgia football. (The man had a way with words.)

Another Saturday tradition which has meant so much to me over the years can be stated very simple: “THERE AIN’T NOTHING LIKE BEING A BULLDOG ON SATURDAY NIGHT —– AFTER WINNING A FOOTBALL GAME”. I mean like whipping Tennessee’s ass to start with, then ten more and another one.

This is the Game Plan. We have no alternate plan.

Charges dropped against Natrez Patrick

The Barrow County district attorney’s office has dropped possession of marijuana charges against Georgia linebacker Natrez Patrick. Patrick and teammate Jayson Stanley were arrested the night of the SEC Championship Game. Stanley had DUI charges dropped, but pled guilty to misdemeanor possession of marijuana and speeding. From Mark Schlabach of ESPN:

“When you get into someone’s car, you’re not going to search it to see if there’s marijuana in the car,” William Healan III, Patrick’s attorney, told Mark Schlabach of ESPN. “My client didn’t know the marijuana was there. If you’re sitting on a little piece of marijuana that you didn’t know was there, you’re not knowingly in possession of it.”

Since charges were dropped, it remains to be seen whether or not Patrick will play in the Rose Bowl or a potential National Championship Game.

Kill ‘em with kindness

There has been no war of words between Georgia and Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl buildup. On the contrary, both sides have been highly complimentary of the other. Take Heisman-winner Baker Mayfield for example. On Thursday, he admitted to his admiring Georgia great Herschel Walker and gushed over the Georgia defense, which he said he considers “the best defense.” From Chip Towers of DawgNation:

Mayfield was asked if the Sooners’ had faced a comparable defense to Georgia’s this season.

“They’re the best defense; you can’t compare them to anybody,” he said. “They’re in a league of their own and that’s the reason they’re in the playoffs. They follow behind that defense. You can’t compare them to other people because they’re so talented and they play so well together. To say they’re like anybody else would be downplaying how good they are.”

Mail time

Seth Emerson of DawgNation tackles questions about a great offense winning a championship, a replacement for assistant coach Kevin Sherrer, the heavy rotation at running back and more in his weekly mailbag. But I wanted to highlight the important questions he got to: What color will Georgia wear in the Rose Bowl?

Straight from the Rose Bowl spokesperson, and, yes I did actually email to ask: Georgia will wear white as it is the lower-seeded team and thus technically the road team. Oklahoma will wear its crimson red home jerseys.

I’m very pleased to be the official uniform correspondent of the Georgia beat corps, answering all your needs.

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Good dog

Timber!

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