Georgia Bulldogs Countdown to Kickoff: Day 13
There are 13 days left in the Georgia Bulldogs’ offseason. For these dawgs, the number 13 is actually a lucky one.
Let’s start with the obvious one.
I wrote about Stetson Bennett‘s #22 jersey for the ’22-days-until-kickoff’ piece.
In case you forgot, the Mailman wore that number – not a picturesque one for a quarterback – in his original stint with the Dawgs.
Once he returned for the 2019 season, though, the number 13 was available. If you’re superstitious, it isn’t what ya want.
But Stetson Bennett makes his own luck.
He’ll wear that 13 for one final rodeo – in block numbers, this time – to start another Georgia Bulldogs football season in Atlanta against the Oregon Ducks.
His original number 22 predicted the year in which Georgia would win its first National Championship since January of 1981.
Many fans wondered what their Bulldogs had done to earn this hex.
Bennett’s #13 means something else to an entire nation of Bulldogs, now.
And it’s anything but a curse.
Jordan Davis also wears the number 13 with pride – just on his heart
The number 13 worked out well for Jordan Davis, too.
That’s the overall, first-round NFL Draft pick that the Philadelphia Eagles used to make Davis a pro football player.
After a Georgia football career that began as a mostly unheralded three-star, Davis exemplifies another one of Kirby Smart’s and Tray Scott’s developmental success stories.
For right now, he’s a NFL work in progress. At least he’s learning alongside his buddy, and third-round NFL Draft pick, Nakobe Dean.
Yes, they’re getting the rookie treatment now, and there’s a long way to go.
But as long as Davis and Dean keep making plays like they did at Georgia, they’ll be fine, just fine with those wings on their helmets.
And whatever Jordan Davis does, it will be a lot better than whatever Madden did to the virtual version of himself.
Speaking of NFL careers, Matthew Stafford appreciates the 13 party, too
The former Dawgs quarterback won the Super Bowl this past season.
The Year of the Dawg is a special, special thing.
But Matthew Stafford‘s 13-year NFL career up until then was a road lined with heartaches and tears.
He just needed a change of scenery, and the Detroit Lions agreed to trade him to Los Angeles for Jared Goff.
For Stafford, persistence paid off. He took a risk, made a difficult request to the franchise that loved him like a son, and in that bittersweet turn of events, his wildest dreams came true.
The number 13 ain’t all that bad.
Sometimes you just have to lean into its mysterious nature. Or ignore it all together.
As Billy Bob Thornton’s portrayal of Permian High School head football coach Gary Gaines reminds us in ‘Friday Night Lights’ (2004)…
There ain’t no curses.
Not for these Dawgs. Not anymore.
