ATHENS – Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint epitomizes everything the Georgia Bulldogs seek in a player and leader.
The senior wide receiver is selfless on the football field, as happy to block for a teammate as he is to be the primary target on a red-zone pass play. When it comes to team mantras, he carries them like they come with a handle included. Hustle? Rosemy-Jacksaint knows no other speed. When other wide receivers come to UGA via the transfer portal, he’s the first to show them around and call them “brother.”
That’s why the stretch that Rosemy-Jacksaint had in May seemed so out of character to coach Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs. He was ticketed three times in eight days driving his newly-acquired 2020 Dodge Charger. The last infraction came as he returned to Athens from a trip back home and landed him in the Athens-Clarke County Jail due to an an additional charge of reckless driving. He was traveling 90 miles per hour on a 45-mph stretch of Atlanta Highway.
As Rosemy-Jacksaint stood at a lectern Tuesday in the team meeting room at Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall, he was asked what he learned from the whole experience.
“That was a bad decision I made back in May,” said Rosemy-Jacksaint, who is slated to start at split end for the Bulldogs for the second straight season. “I completely learned from that mistake. I take full responsibility for my mistakes. I made a bad name for my family’s name and made Georgia look bad and Kirby look bad. So, I take full responsibility for everything I’ve done and I just want to move on.”
Rosemy-Jacksaint has moved on. On July 5, Rosemy-Jacksaint pled guilty to speeding, was given six months of probation, fined $1,013 and was required to attend a defensive driving class and a traffic violators impact program. The reckless driving charge against him was dismissed.
Rosemy-Jacksaint also has resolved the other two speeding tickets he received on back-to-back days in Broward County, Florida. Those citations were for driving 60 mph in a 45-mph zone and 71 in 40-mph zone in two different parts of town. All three infractions came a short time after Rosemy-Jacksaint received his vehicle as part of a Name, Image and Likeness arrangement with a South Georgia agent.
His punishment was not limited to the courts. Rosemy-Jacksaint said Smart subjected him to “runs and all kinds of stuff.”
“l took it like a man,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “I owned up to it and I just want to learn from it and move on. Whatever I have to do to clear it up and learn from it, that’s what I have to do.”
Credit: Chip Towers
Credit: Chip Towers
At least two other Georgia football players received speeding tickets after Rosemy-Jacksaint’s last incident. The last came just days before preseason camp started. The inability to convince his team to slow down on the road left Smart infuriated and frustrated.
“We haven’t solved that issue,” Smart said last month.
All told, Georgia football players were ticketed at least 14 times for speeding, reckless driving or racing since winning the national championship on Jan. 9. Two members of the football program – offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy – died in an alcohol-related, high-speed car crash on Jan. 15 in Athens. Police said racing contributed to that wreck.
Thankfully for the Bulldogs, the football season is almost upon them. Traveling apart from the team will be extremely limited for all players from now until December. Georgia just broke preseason camp on Sunday and will open the season as the nation’s consensus No. 1 team against UT-Martin in 17 days.
There is much to play for. Winners of the last two national championships, the Bulldogs have a chance to become the first team since 1936 to win three national titles in a row.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Such historical milestones, however, are the last thing on Georgia’s mind, Rosemy-Jacksaint said.
“That is something we’re not even worried about,” the 6-foot-2, 195-pound athlete said with a grin. “We are worried about UT-Martin and the first game. Then we’ll worry about the next game the next day. We’re not worried about a three-peat.”
Rosemy-Jacksaint is focused on the continued improvement of his personal skillset. In his first two seasons at Georgia, the former St. Thomas Aquinas High School star developed a reputation as an expert downfield blocker and exceptional special teams player while navigating a serious leg injury. Accordingly, he had just 11 catches and a single touchdown catch.
Last year, he had 29 catches for 337 yards and two touchdowns. His high-pointed, back-of-the-end-zone snag for a touchdown in the decisive regular-season win over then-No. 1-ranked Tennessee became a team highlight.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Rosemy-Jacksaint hopes to do more of the same in 2023. He remains ahead of Mississippi State transfer Rara Thomas on the Bulldogs’ depth chart at split end and he continues to conduct himself as a leader for the Bulldogs both on and off the field.
Between the additions of Thomas and Missouri transfer Dominic Lovett and the continued recruitment of great talent into the receivers’ room, the competition for playing is as intense as ever. Rosemy-Jacksaint said he doesn’t know how it will shake out, but he knows he’ll have a role.
“We have a lot more moving pieces now, but that’s going to benefit us,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “That’s always a great thing. My role is whatever they put me in, I’ll just try to do my best, whether that’s blocking or catching the ball. I’m working every day -- everybody here is working every day, to get one percent better.”
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