ATHENS — Georgia coach Kirby Smart responded Monday to video circulating of a Bulldogs football player on the field after the Ole Miss game.
The video of Jake Pope, a redshirt sophomore safety from Buford, appearing to celebrate with a fan wearing the jersey of Ole Miss offensive lineman Reece McIntyre, who also went to Buford, circulated social media, drawing criticism from Georgia fans.
“What an idiot. Just stupid. I didn’t see it until today,” Smart said. “He’s embarrassed about it. He’s upset about it. That’s obviously a childhood friend of his, they grew up and played with at Buford. Hadn’t seen him in forever. Just not real smart.
“But to be honest with you, I don’t have time to waste energy on that. You know what I’m saying. My focus is on Tennessee. I’m not real worried on that.”
Pope posted a response Monday on X, saying that the moment was “taken out of perspective,” and that his celebration was in response to seeing longtime family friends.
“I’m sorry to my teammates, coaches and fans all around about the way that video looked and I choose to move forward and get ready for a great rest of the season with my brothers,” Pope posted.
Pope transferred in from Alabama this offseason. The safety has played in three games so far this season. Pope played in 12 games for Alabama, working on special teams.
This was the first time under Smart that Georgia had the field stormed in opposition. The Bulldogs had a 52-game winning streak against teams not named Alabama.
Pope is not the only Georgia player whose actions have come under fire in the late stages of Saturday’s loss. Carson Beck was seen smiling on the sideline, while Georgia was down 22-10, and speaking to backup quarterback Jaden Rashada.
While social media expressed enormous criticism of Beck’s seemingly positive spirit in the moment, Rashada’s dad and Beck’s mom both jumped in to defend the situation.
Harlen Rashada posted on X: “I’m sure there have been countless times Carson has picked up Jaden. So this brings joy to my heart to see the bond of two elite competitors holding strong in a moment of defeat. That’s real brotherhood.”
Tracy Beck posted, in part: “...this is one of Carson’s true besties whom he loves like a brother and in a time when I am sure Carson was feeling this big loss, Jaden could make him smile and laugh. What I don’t like is immediately the media took this as Carson not caring about losing and that he was laughing about the loss! One thing I can promise is Carson cares and he goes back and works harder every day to help his team by figuring out what he can do to improve and what he can do to help his team!”
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