Kendall Milton leaving legacy of leadership in Georgia RB room

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Kendall Milton hasn’t announced his entry into the NFL Draft quite yet, but the Bulldog running back likely capped off his collegiate career with an MVP performance for Georgia in its 63-3 win over No. 5 Florida State in the Orange Bowl.

The Fresno, Calif. native carried it nine times for 104 yards and two touchdowns, all coming in the first half of the record-setting victory. In doing so, he helped his senior class secure a 50th career win, a new mark for best in Georgia program history.

“To be honest, the rest of the team kind of took on that responsibility like the whole week. I would have receivers, the offensive linemen, the defensive linemen coming up to us saying, ‘We’re going to send you out the right way,’ and that showed in practice, how hard we all practice. You would’ve thought it was a scrimmage the way we were practicing, you know what I mean,” Milton said after the game.

“Everybody really took it to heart, and I’m just blessed to be with a group of guys like that,” he continued. “I been fighting tears all week, before the game fighting tears, after the game fighting tears because this team is a family. Some people just say it, but this team is a real brotherhood. It really shows day in and day out, and I couldn’t ask for a greater team to be a part of.”

Milton and Kirby Smart shared a moment as the clock was winding down in the win. The two embraced on the sideline as a way to reflect on their time together and the impact a player like Milton has had on the program in Athens.

“Kendall has meant a lot to this program,” Smart told reporters. “He’s given so much. He’s been through a lot. He said that. I still remember going all the way to California, being in his house, seeing him and his parents, and he’s sacrificed a ton to make this program a better place, and he’s worked his tail off. So I thank you Kendall publicly for what (he’s) done.”

“Kendall and Ladd are two of the most loyal Bulldogs that we’ll ever have,” Smart added earlier in the week. “They’ve played on special teams. They create toughness in the way they practice. They’ve both been through some injuries, and they’ve both bounced back from those. They never hesitated. Kendall played his best football at the end of the year and really came on and had some really good games, and he wants to go out on top. It was important to him to come out and play in this game.”

A four-year contributor, Milton battled injuries at various points of every season he was on campus. However, Milton without a doubt saved his best football for last, scoring a touchdown in nine straight games to close out the 2023 campaign.

“To be with Coach Smart after the game, he told me how proud he was of me,” Milton said. “I feel like if anybody knows Coach Smart, knows what I’ve been through here at Georgia, this not in any way has been an easy journey. Has not been a smooth journey. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of speed bumps along the way.”

“Coach Smart told me how proud he was of me I stuck it out, I ended up making it to the end, I achieved success. I basically told him thank you for believing in me, because at the end of the day that’s all you can ask for, your coach to believe in you, your teammates to believe in you,” he continued. “That’s all I really said, just thank you for believing in me, thank you for giving me the opportunity to go out there and play the game.”

Milton wasn’t the only Georgia running back to have success on Saturday though. His classmate Daijun Edwards, who had 62 yards on seven carries, also plunged into the end zone twice while the Bulldogs totaled 372 yards on the ground. Roderick Robinson, Andrew Paul and Cash Jones added to the team total late with a combined 123 yards on 15 carries to provide a bit of a glimpse into what the future of the running back room in Athens might look like.

“You know, I can think back all the way to the first game of the season, and I remember in warmups I looked at Andrew and Rod and I told them, I believe in you all because I knew there was a game they were going to get in, and I told them I believe in you all. I know y’all are young so your head is probably spinning getting to the game time, but if nobody has told you I believe in y’all,” Milton said.

“To see them go out today and achieve success and Rod running through people, AP running through people, that made me so happy. I was jumping more on the sideline for them than I was for my own touchdowns because those are my little brothers,” he continued. “I really look at them as little brothers. Like I took them under my wing because at the end of the day this is a family. So to see them achieve success and do the things that they’ve been working all year for even when haven’t got all the opportunities, there was games they didn’t get in, they were frustrated throughout the week in practice or whatever, they still stuck it and kept fighting all the way through. I’m proud of my boys, proud of my little brothers to see them achieve success, and I’m excited to see them achieve success next year.”