The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dogs get moving in charitable work; Gurley, Stafford jump in
ATHENS — Last week, when the Georgia Bulldogs joined the growing throng of athletes speaking out against social injustice in America, football coach Kirby Smart said he was more interested in seeing action than he was hearing words.
Turns out the Bulldogs have produced a pretty good dose of both in the days since.
■ Last Tuesday, Georgia players marched from their South Campus football complex to the Holmes-Hunter Academic Building on North Campus to hear a speech from Dr. Hamilton E. Holmes Jr. Holmes is the son Hamilton Holmes, who was one of the first two African American students admitted to UGA, along with Charlayne Hunter-Gault, in 1961.
■ On Wednesday, Georgia football players and wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton hatched the plan for “Dawgs for Pups,” a fundraising initiative in which the Bulldogs aim to help provide high-speed internet access for all the children of Athens-Clarke County and the surrounding areas who have to attend school virtually. As of Sunday evening, they had raised more than $25,000.
■ On Thursday, Atlanta Falcons running back and former UGA player Todd Gurley announced that his foundation — MADE, or Make A Difference Every Day — would join forces with the Georgia Athletic Association to organize philanthropic events and raise money for causes that support the physical, social and educational health of local youth. Gurley’s first act was to donate to the Dawgs for Pups campaign.
Former Bulldog Benjamin Watson followed Gurley’s lead, and so did Georgia’s coach. The Kirby Smart
Family Foundation on Friday donated $10,000 to the cause.
“It’s really taken off,” Smart said of the Dawgs for Pups initiative. “There’s going to be a lot of kids in Athens, Georgia, getting Wi-Fi, and that’s a direct result of our players grabbing this initiative along with Cortez.”
Also, two weeks ago, former Georgia and current Detroit Lions star quarterback Matthew Stafford pledged $1.5 million to UGA to fund social justice and diversity initiatives, as well scholarships for students in need.
“Just trying to figure out what the best way to make an impact is,” Stafford told ESPN. “We’ve done some work here in the Detroit area and wanted to do some work back where we spent our college years. Obviously, Georgia was thinking about starting this program, and we were obviously extremely happy to be a part of it.”
It’s not as though Georgia players weren’t doing anything before. The Bulldogs already had been volunteering regularly with the Northeast Georgia Food Bank and a few other local charities in the last several years. And they have regularly spoken with elementary and middle school children at schools, which they are continuing this semester via Zoom calls by position groups.
But Smart said the Bulldogs are planning more altruistic efforts in the near future.
“It’s something our kids were expressing the day after the NBA boycotts,” Smart said during a videoconference with reporters Saturday. “So many of them wanted to use their platform — ‘There’s more we can do, Coach’ — and use their impact more and make change. And you make change with action.”