As a native Georgian and Bulldog born and bred, Stetson Bennett turned down playing football at smaller colleges to try his luck at the University of Georgia. “And then I could go somewhere else if it didn’t work out,” he said, “rather than going to a smaller school, balling out, and never having that chance here. I didn’t want that regret.”

I don’t think Bennett is feeling any regrets right now, although the Georgia quarterback would prefer not to have the descriptor “former walk-on” attached to his name every time somebody speaks or writes about him. But alas, the job of writers is to tell a story and Bennett’s story is a great one that makes the most sense when you consider where he came from in comparison to his counterpart in Monday’s national championship game, Bryce Young at the University of Alabama.

Bennett’s Georgia Bulldogs beat Young’s Alabama Crimson Tide 33 – 18 in a game that had has as many storylines as I can remember from a college game. The one I want to focus on involves the two quarterbacks who illustrate that there is no single pathway to greatness.

Just look at Young’s resume. As a young man growing up in Pasadena, California, he went from great to greatness as a high school All-American and national Offensive Player of the Year to recruitment by some of the finest college programs in the country. He chose Alabama and promptly was a member of a national championship team. In his second year in Tuscaloosa (and first year as a starter) he won every individual trophy imaginable, from SEC Player of the Year and Consensus All-American to AP College Player of the Year and Heisman Trophy Winner. Without question, his greatness had extended to the collegiate level.

So, I can understand why his counterpart gets a bit miffed that his designation is as a former transfer from Jones County Junior College and walk-on at Georgia.

Actually, this line isn’t entirely accurate. He walked-on at Georgia, transferred to junior college to get more playing time, and then transferred back on scholarship to Georgia. But guess who was waiting for him there? More All-Everything players. At one point, he was fourth on the depth chart. Bennett entered the 2021 season as the backup to USC transfer JT Daniels, though Bennett ultimately took the starting job in September after Daniels suffered an injury.

Bennett had to endure a steady drumbeat of disapproval all year despite quarterbacking his team all the way to Indianapolis and the championship game. Of course, he didn’t win by himself. Georgia had a fearsomely talented roster and a defense that was second to none. For most of the season, Georgia was ranked No. 1 in the nation. But being a football player in Georgia is like being a hockey player in Montreal or soccer player in Madrid: you’ve got to have thick skin, believe in yourself, and portray a big ol’ chip on your shoulder to carry you past the doubters.

“I’m not going to sit here and be a frat kid on the football team. I’m going to go play football,” Bennett said upon his return to Georgia, showing that he had all the determination and defiance he needed to succeed. No, he didn’t pout or point fingers or beat himself up. He kept his head down and progressed, which is really all any of us can do in our jobs or personal lives. 

But the voices from the peanut gallery weren’t half as challenging as the Alabama defenders swarming at him on the field. For the first three quarters of the national title contest, the game was, to put it mildly, a defensive struggle. Then, something bizarre happened that gave Bennett the chance of a lifetime to prove that he belonged in the greatness conversation that day.

With Georgia leading 14 – 13 in the fourth quarter, Bennett was scrambling to elude an Alabama defender and tried to throw the ball away, only to be hit by a defender and have the play ruled a fumble. Alabama took possession and scored several plays later to take the lead. The play might have crushed the spirit of a less resolved player, but not Bennett.

“I just knew there was going to be no way we were going to let a turnover like that stop us from winning a national championship,” he said postgame. “I wasn’t going to be the reason we lost to them.” And sure enough, Bennett went on to redeem himself by throwing two touchdown passes and leading his team to their first national championship, or “natty” since 1980.

As Georgia wound down the victory clock following cornerback Kelee Ringo’s interception of a Young pass, Bennett was shown crying and hugging anyone in sight on the Georgia sideline, not something you see every day in this situation.

But he deserved to have a good cry, and based on his response in those moments, Stetson Bennett will never have to buy a drink – or a box of Kleenex – in Athens again.