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SPORTS
Thursday, November 8, 2012
The Red & Black
Sudden, sad ending to Marlon Brown’s resurgent senior season BY RYAN BLACK and JACOB DEMMITT The Red & Black With a heavy heart, Georgia head coach Mark Richt announced Sunday that wide receiver Marlon Brown’s career had come to a close. Richt confirmed Brown tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, and though he is expected to make a full recovery, the senior has played his last snap as a Bulldog. Georgia Sports Communications said in a release that Brown’s surgery will take place at a “yet-tobe determined date,” with team orthopedic surgeons performing the procedure. Richt noted “it’s an injury people recover from well,” and Brown’s future pro career likely won’t be negatively affected. That didn’t make it any easier for Richt to handle. “We’re just very sad and sorry that it hap-
pened for Marlon and for Georgia,” Richt said. “It’s just a hard thing to swallow right now.” The injury occurred during the third quarter of Saturday’s victory over Ole Miss, at the end of a 30-yard reception by Brown. Richt said in his postgame press conference he didn’t believe the tackle leading to the tear was dirty, and hadn’t had time to pore over the play Sunday. “We didn’t sit there and just labor over that,” he said. At the time of the injury, Brown had a team-high three catches for 113 yards against the Rebels, including a 66-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. Richt said Brown handled news well considering the circumstances. “Obviously no one enjoys to hear that kind of news. It’s not good news, but Marlon’s a man now,” Richt said. “He’s not a boy any-
CAREER STATS 2012: 27 catches for 469 yards, four touchdowns. 2011: 15 catches for 234 yards, three touchdowns. 2010: 11 catches for 133 yards, and one touchdown. 2009: Two catches for 15 yards
more, he’s a man.” Brown’s ACL tear is the second season-ending knee injury to hit Georgia’s receiving corps. Redshirt sophomore Michael Bennett tore his ACL during practice in the first week of October. Like Brown, Bennett was also leading the team in receptions at the time. Richt admitted yet
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another blow to the unit will be a challenge for the remaining receivers to overcome. “Marlon and Michael were just two outstanding football players,” he said. “At the time of the injuries, they’re both leading the team in receptions and have a nice physicality to them as well at that position. We’ll miss that.” News of Brown’s season ending injury sent a shockwave through the Georgia locker room. But for some, the troubling news was also an opportunity. As coaches shuffle players around to fill in the holes, a few unfamiliar faces will be spending more time on the field. One name popping up is Justin ScottWesley, a lightning-fast redshirt sophomore with just one catch in his young Georgia career. “He’s a guy that really doesn’t have any experience but he doesn’t let that effect him,” said junior wide receiver Rantavious Wooten. “He’s been waiting. Right now, this is his time." To Scott-Wesley, the chance to show what he can do can’t come fast enough. “You’re [always] one play away from being on the field,” he said. “Even some games when I knew I wasn’t
Wide receiver Marlon Brown saw his career finish sadly after sustaining an ACL injury against Ole Miss last Saturday. He is expected to recover fully, but has lost playing eligibility. WES BLANKENSHIP/Staff getting some playing time, I was still in there watching film just in case a guy went down or two guys went down." After declaring his commitment to Georgia on the winners podium at a state track meet in 2010, Scott-Wesley has done everything he can to shed the stigmas attached to being the fast guy — almost. “People really didn’t
acknowledge my skills as a receiver so I just have to show people I’m a football player,” he said, wearing his Georgia track sweatshirt. “Day in and day out I show people I’m more than just a fast guy. I catch the ball, I can take a hit, I can give a hit, I can block.”
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From denial to rehabilitation Michael Bennett reflects on ACL injury, season BY JACOB DEMMITT The Red & Black Athletes use a variety of words to describe the sound an ACL makes when it tears. Some say it’s a burst, others call it an explosion. But according to Georgia wide receiver Michael Bennett, it’s just two simple “pops.” “I could hear them clear as day. I asked everybody else if they heard them, they said no. But I heard them. I heard them pop and I knew that couldn’t be good,” Bennett told The Red & Black in his first media interview since an ACL injury signaled an early end to his 2012 season on Oct. 2. There’s no need to look far for reminders of the unpredictable nature of football. South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore texted Bennett earlier in October, offering support after Bennett suffered the season-ending knee injury. Lattimore could relate because he had suffered a similar fate when he tore his left ACL in 2011. Three weeks later, Lattimore was back on the sidelines — this time, with a right knee injury. Meanwhile, Bennett had led the Bulldogs in receptions (24), receiving yards (345) and touchdowns (four) through the first five weeks of the season. But now his stats sit frozen. “I went through a phase of [asking what if]. But now it’s just kind of like, ‘Dude, it’s over,’” Bennett said. “And I just know God has a plan for me. It’s going to work out the way He wants it to. For some reason He didn’t want me to finish the season.” Bennett has already fixed his eyes on what he has to do to get back on the field in 2013. As soon as doctors diagnosed a torn ACL, his first response was to schedule the surgery that would make it possible for him to play again. Doctors took pieces of bone and tendon from other places on his knee to build a new ACL on Oct. 9. Four weeks later, they say Bennett is doing better than most. The incisions have turned to scabs and he walks without crutches. He wears a knee brace most days, but Bennett said he has no doubt he’ll be ready to go next season. “I know my work ethic and how hard I’m going to try to come back,” he said. “So I’m not really worried about the comeback part. It’s just the time of everyday sitting in the training room. It’s kind of boring.” And he has good reason to be optimistic. Many high-profile NFL athletes such as New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson have managed to return as strong as ever after ACL tears. “I think he knows he has a great future ahead of him,” Georgia head coach Mark Richt said. “He still has two years of eligibility and people recover quite well from that type of surgery.”
Georgia wideout Michael Bennett was leading the team in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns before suffering an ACL injury versus South Carolina. C.B.SCHMELTER/Staff The injury happened on the last drill of Tuesday’s practice as the Bulldogs prepared to face Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina — a game they would eventually lose 35-7. Bennett was tied up in a block when a defensive teammate twisted his body in a strange direction. “When he did that, my next step I knew was going to be kind of weird,” Bennett said. “When I tried to catch my balance with my right foot, I put my heel down and my leg was just straight — no bend in it. I just heard two pops. And instant pain.” But the pain subsided and Bennett ended up walking off the field under his own power. “I thought I was fine,” he said. “It was at the end of practice, so I was like, well at least practice is over.” But the training staff performed a quick stability test that suggested something more serious. “I didn’t really believe him,” Bennett said. “Because I walked off the field. Honestly, I was getting a little emotional when he told me that, but in my mind I was going, ‘It’s not torn. Let’s just get this MRI over with and show it’s fine.’” The MRI confirmed the trainer’s suspicions later that evening. As his teammates suffered their first loss of the season to South Carolina a few days later, Bennett was stuck on the couch yelling at the TV with his dad. “It’s very frustrating; very, very frustrating to watch my team out there,” Bennett said. “That South Carolina game was bad. They needed a lot more than me out there.” Things didn’t get much easier when the Bulldogs won their next two games, including one against rival Florida. Now, Bennett was missing out on all the fun. “I think when we stop playing games and the season is over it’ll be a lot easier for me because right now I’m just chomping at the bit to get out there,” he said. “But it’s just not going to happen.”. Bennett expects to be back on the field by the time spring practices start. He won’t participate in contact drills, but he’ll be able to ease back into things by running routes and working more closely with teammates.
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