ATHENS — Much has changed for Tate Ratledge since the last time he started against Clemson.
He’s been a part of two national championship teams. He’s broken his foot. He’s seen 18 of the 21 other Georgia starters from that game get drafted into the NFL. He’s been named an All-American.
But the only remaining starter from that last Clemson game (Sept. 4, 2021) has changed just as much off the field as he has on it.
He’s added a full tattoo sleeve. His mullet is unquestionably one of the best in the sport. He’s cycled through three different podcast hosts.
And through it all, Ratledge has remained at Georgia. He’s grown from a wide-eyed redshirt freshman making his first career start to a grizzled veteran, looking to pull off one final championship run.
“His maturity has grown. He’s always been a great practice player. He loves football,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said of Ratledge. “He’s become, kind of a centerpiece of that group. I think him coming back, just validated to the others that he wanted to do something special.”
Ratledge will be stepping into a new role for Georgia this fall. Given his wealth of experience, he’s now the unquestioned leader on the offensive line. He knows younger players will look to him for advice and direction.
Part of the reason this front-facing role is foreign to Ratledge is because he’s always been able to stand beside Sedrick Van Pran-Granger. The two 2020 signees each made their first career starts against the Clemson Tigers.
Van Pran-Granger is now in the NFL, as he was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in April. That departure forced Ratledge from being the wise-cracking sidekick to being a more central voice in Georgia’s offensive line group, which is expected to be among the best in the country.
Van Pran-Granger’s leadership wasn’t the only skill Ratledge spent the offseason picking up. In hopes of building better depth at center, Georgia began working Ratledge at center. When Jared Wilson was battling Achilles tendinitis, Ratledge took first-team reps at center.
“It made me have a lot more respect for what Sed did,” Ratledge said. “I called him and I told him, I was like, ‘I have a newfound respect for what you did all last year.’”
Ratledge likely will be Georgia’s starting right guard Saturday, with Wilson poised to make his first career start at center.
The hope is that Wilson’s debut will go better than Ratledge’s. After a stellar preseason camp in 2021, Ratledge seemed poised to be a breakout player on Georgia’s offensive line that season.
But on the third play of the game, Ratledge broke his foot. Before Georgia’s legendary 2021 defense could take the field for its first snaps of the season, Ratledge was being carted to the locker room with tears in his eyes.
“When I first got here, I thought my body was invincible, thought nothing could hurt it,” Ratledge said. “Now going into my fifth year, you figure out that’s not the case. I wish I would have learned that earlier, started taking care of my body earlier.”
Ratledge has started 27 of Georgia’s 29 games over the past two seasons, molding himself into a model of stability. For an offensive line that rotates players in and out like a hockey line changes, Ratledge is a constant for this group.
That’s why he’s even better suited to be the face of perhaps the best offensive line in the country.
“I’ve been in a room with Sed, who’s one of the best leaders I’ve ever been around,” Ratledge said. “I’ve never really had to be that guy, but this year in our locker room, I am going to have to be that guy and kind of get people going. I’m an older guy. People listen to me. Stepping into that role is going to be something big for me.”
Every leadership style is different, and Ratledge is learning what works best for him. Ratledge is likely to lean into humor to get his points across.
“He always cracks on me and jokes on me, and I do the exact same to him,” quarterback Carson Beck said. “Not as much as him to me. I don’t really give him too much trouble. He’s a little bit bigger than me, so if I give him too much trouble he might take me down. I’m super excited about the season and the things that could be as a result of the season as well.”
Ratledge and Beck lived together for most of their Georgia careers to this point. Beck, even as he’s seen his celebrity skyrocket this offseason, still sees Ratledge as his best friend on the team.
If there’s someone who can go joke for joke with Ratledge on this Georgia roster, it might be punter Brett Thorson. He’s become Ratledge’s newest podcast co-host on the “Real Talk” podcast.
Thorson, a punter from Australia, might seem like an odd pairing to go with an offensive lineman from northwest Georgia. But there’s a natural chemistry between the two, with Thorson giving Ratledge his flowers in that regard.
“He is himself. He is a funny guy,” Thorson said this spring. “It’s enjoyable, and it makes the podcast fun. We kind of sit there and just talk. There’s a script of ideas we go over but there is no set script that we have to talk about. We just talk and forget the cameras are there. So it’s awesome and Tate, obviously, is a great guy and he’s funny.”
One recent example of Ratledge’s humor came when he was discussing his new tattoo sleeve. The artwork is impressive, and there is purpose in the permanence of the ink, as it details a number of places and people that have had an impact on his life.
But he also knew his mom wasn’t going to be thrilled with the display.
“I’ve got the Clock Tower, that’s from Rome (his hometown). The train’s from Chattanooga. I was born in Chattanooga,” Ratledge said. “And then I’ve got the Arch. I’ve got three road signs that I’ve lived on: Tennessee, Rome and here. Of course I’ve got one for (Devin Willock). I’ve got a lion, and then I’ve got a Bible verse: Matthew 23:12. It says, whoever exalts himself will be humbled and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”
The sleeve spans the length of Ratledge’s arm and is crammed with totems of core memories and serves as a reminder of his journey to get to this point, where he’ll be making another start against Clemson. Consider that his offensive line coach for the first start against Clemson, Matt Luke, now is Clemson’s offensive line coach.
And that when younger Georgia players look for players who they want to mimic, they turn on tape of Ratledge mauling opposing linemen.
“Tate is a guy I’ve taken a lot of pages out of his own book and put them in my own. I really love the way Tate cleans the pocket,” guard Dylan Fairchild said. “Pick pieces of their game and put them in our book. That’s a big thing I’ve enjoyed about having Tate in the room. I learn a lot from him. I ask a lot of questions to him. He’s got a lot of answers.”
With 28 career starts, Ratledge has the experience to provide answers. Ratledge easily could’ve taken that knowledge to the NFL, as Van Pran-Granger did this offseason.
Yet there was still more Ratledge wanted to do. In a rare moment of seriousness, Ratledge was blunt about how he wasn’t happy with another loss to Alabama (in the SEC Championship game). It played a part in him coming back to Georgia for another season, as Ratledge has never played in a win over Alabama.
In coming back to Georgia for a fifth season, Ratledge has a chance to add another chapter to his storybook Georgia career. One that has its share of laughs — both light and dark humor — and moments of triumph.
“It’s football. This is the fun part of what we do,” Ratledge said. “I definitely don’t take football for granted, seeing as how fast it can be taken away from me. I think that gave me a chance to mature and kind of stick to the older player’s hips and learn from them.”
