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Kirby Smart says he reached out to Nick Chubb following injury

20200517_134556by: Justin Rudolph09/20/23
kirby-smart-says-he-reached-out-to-nick-chubb-following-injury
Sep 3, 2016; Atlanta, GA, USA; Georgia Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart puts the Old Leather Helmet on running back Nick Chubb (27) after the 2016 Chick-Fil-A Kickoff game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Georgia Dome. Georgia won 33-24. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Following a horrific knee injury during the Cleveland Browns 26-22 loss on Monday Night Football, running back Nick Chubb will be out for the remainder of the 2023 season. The Browns star running back received a ton of well-wishes from fans and teammates alike. Some individuals directly reached out to Chubb upon learning of his injury. One of those individuals is his former college head coach, Kirby Smart.

During Smart’s Tuesday press conference, the Georgia Bulldogs head coach spoke about reaching out to Chubb and shared some thoughts on his former star running back.

“Yeah, he’s an incredible human being, first and foremost,” said Smart. “What kids are going back to their high school weight room strength coach program track and works out like he does. It’s very rare in the sports world to find someone as humble and just the great person that he is.

“I reached out to him; I know he’s probably been flooded with all kinds of people reaching out to him. (I have) a lot of respect for him and what he did for this program in terms of toughness, buy-in, (and) giving back. He decided to come back when he did… he certainly did UGA a favor returning. What an outstanding year he had when he did.”

Chubb was a monster out of the backfield at Georgia. In his freshman year, he was the Bulldog’s leading rusher, carrying the ball 219 times for 1547 yards and 14 touchdowns. His stardom in college football was skyrocketing before a similar injury sidelined him for the rest of the year in 2015. Chubb would make a full recovery returning to the field in 2016 and could have declared for the 2017 NFL Draft. Instead, he decided to return to Georgia for one more season and put together another impressive performance. In his senior year, Chubb had 223 carries for 1345 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns.

Since Smart has a deeper understanding of the injury Chubb went down with in college and the magnitude of it, he understands what he’s willing to do to bounce back. And because of that, the Georgia headman isn’t too worried about his former running back’s road to recovery. He believes Chubb will make a full recovery because ‘That’s just who he is.’

“I talked to Ron about it today, and I think he’ll make a full recovery and bounce back. That’s just who he is. He’ll be ready to get after it.”