Look, I get that Shawn Williams is frustrated with the play of his defensive teammates. If you’re a Georgia fan, unless you’ve been in a coma the past month or two, how could you not share the sentiment? And I can even give him a pass for going to the media with it – he knows his guys a helluva lot better than I ever will, so maybe he’s convinced this was the only way to light a fire under them.
But, in a year when the SEC has made it known that it is paying attention to certain forms of on-field activity at a level that borders on the fetishistic, how smart is it for a player who was suspended for the first half of last year’s game because of questionable play to say something like this, even in jest?
Williams kept digging in, when asked what the team needed in order to get in the right mindset. He seemed only half-joking when he invoked the New Orleans Saints bounty scandal.
“It seems like we need the coach from the Saints, it seems like we need him. It seems like we need a pay-for-play system,” Williams said. “That’s what it seems like we need though. We need Sean Payton.”
On the 1-10 dumb scale, that’s about a 14.
The sound you hear in the background is Penn Wagers feverishly punching his speed dial for Steve Shaw to beg for the opportunity to be assigned to Jacksonville this Saturday.
This is manna from heaven, if you’re Will Muschamp. Boom will tell his players to do everything legal they can – trash talking, Gator chomping (the GPOOE™ established that’s constitutionally protected free expression, not taunting) and playing hard into that split second past the whistle – to provoke a response. It’ll be the response that the officiating crew will be anticipating. Eagerly. And don’t think the Gator coaches won’t be as helpful as they can be from the sideline pointing out transgressions, real or imaginary.
Take the over on personal fouls this week, people.
Get The Picture 
Could it be that the defense hears a lot of “this is how we did it in the NFL”?
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Any sliver of optimism I had just died. Our defense is filled with a bunch of divas more concerned with acting hard than with doing their job. What a incredibly stupid thing to say–not at all where his head needs to be. I kinda wish we would sit him for that.
On a side note, nothing about Florida pisses me off more than the chomp. It is blatent, in your face taunting, and it’s totally acceptable–unless an opponent does it to them.
This really just killed my soul. I was hoping maybe we could get our heads right, play hard, and not embarrass ourselves. I cannot dream a scenario where that happens now.
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This makes me a little nervous too, but consider earlier in the week Bluto said we need to see this group out of their comfort zone to be competitive. I thought there might be some truth behind that, and maybe this puts them there. Maybe the dawgs will actually come out with their hair on fire. Or maybe Bluto doesnt know what he’s talking about. Who knows? I’m just ready for Saturday to get here already.
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Really? Did you just the other day call for more “fire” out of our coaching staff and rail on about how Richt looked comatose on the sidelines blah blah blah?
I for one am glad that someone had the balls to say what needed to be said about our defense. At least we as fans know that at least one member of the defense knows they aren’t playing up to par. I hope that it does light a fire under their collective asses and they come out and pop some reptiles on Saturday. If that means a few 15 yarders then so be it.
Enough with the hand wringing….
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+1 Let’s make this a game Boom remembers for a long time. A bad deal. etc.
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There was cause for a sliver of optimism?
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Something tells me CMR will have a discussion with Mr. Williams about the Sean Payton comment.
Folks, you wanted a fire lit under the defense’s arse. You don’t get to choose whether it’s match or firecracker (or hand grenade)
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Now we know why Shawn wasn’t available to the media all season before today. The comments were okay until the “pay for play” came up. Dumb.
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Yeah, exactly.
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Senator, did you really think there was any possibility that Penn Wagers wouldn’t be heading up the staff for the game this weekend? I cringe at the beginning of every game I see him strut out.
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While it wasn’t very smart to mention the stuff that happened with the saints, the bounty and pay-for-play were two different issues. Pay for play was for legal plays (picks, TDs, etc) and bounty was obviously for the bad stuff. But yea, not a good idea to bring up something that can be easily misconstrued.
That being said, maybe certain guys needed to be called out in public and by someone other than the fans.
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I wold have thought a media blackout before this game would have been appropriate,,,we ain’t got time for this shit. Your right Senator we will get hit with a personal foul or two and I suggest earn them….no half ass shit .make their receivers worry about crossing the middle..light em boys and STFU
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Maybe I’m the only one who doesn’t see an issue here.. I wasn’t there but how does one say someone is ‘half-joking’? He probably had a little smile on his face when he said it.
At the end of the day is so beyond right.. I don’t see why half these guys came back if they just had a foot out the door anyways.. makes no sense.
And I’m all for never seeing Robinson on the field. DGD or not, the kid is slow and outmatched.
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Well, maybe you’re right. After all, Mike Slive is known for his famous sense of humor. 😉
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I’ll still take the over on personal fouls….but I don’t see this having any legs with the media or fla locker room. I reserve the right to change my opinion if Shultz does his as-expected pontificated hit piece.
I’d like to see Richt tell the players not to verbally engage florida players during the game, whatsoever….saban style
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I think we’ve got a lot of discontent on this defense, which falls squarely on the staff…
http://www.leatherhelmetblog.com/2012-articles/october/not-good.html
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+1 on robinson. him “spying” on connor shaw was an exercise in futility. he’s def not catching driskel if the opportunity shows itself.
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I thought that’s what the Dawg bone stickers were for.
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Nothing more than just another case of our defense talking tough rather than playing tough. The toughest they seem to play is after the whistle with the foolish personal fouls.
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Of the things to worry about going into this weekend, after the run UF has been on and the uninspired performances logged by the defense this year, this ranks way, way, way down my list. If taking a 15yd personal foul or two is the result of the defense pulling their collective heads out and reemerging into the unit we saw last year, then so be it. That is a price of entry I will gladly pay, as I expect Grantham would as well. Clearly this unit needs something to get them off their collective asses. The alternative is for more of what we have seen in the first two months, which will result in a guaranteed reprise of Columbia. So, mark me down as being okay with this, along the lines of the “do something, even if it’s wrong” approach. Sad, but the state of affairs at this juncture.
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+1 all the way. If they come out playing like the U in the 90’s racking up a hundred yards of personal fouls but being punishing I won’t give a damn.
Note: This only applies if we win like the U in the 90s
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exactly…I would imagine that this game will be a little chippy. If the defense plays like they should, then a 15yarder isnt going to be the end of us.
Much more concerned that Murray comes out and coughs the ball up and goes down hill from there.
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Do any of you crazies figure that once they hit out of bounds, facemask a few and hurl their bodies thru the air helmet first, that these players (and the ref’s flags) will let up as if they suddenly can become disciplined and it will desensitize the refs? Nuts.
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Boy, they sure talk tough. Wish they would play as tough as they talk in the big games.
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Isn’t this the one CMR called a dumbass to that other dumbass Coach Franklin?
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While the Saints reference is not optimal I have no issue with him calling out the rest of the defense for playing soft.
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http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2012/10/22/uga-safety-shawn-williams-goes-on-rant-says-defense-too-soft-and-wrong-players-playing/?cxntfid=blogs_uga_sports_blog
If you can bring yourself to read some of his other comments here i actually like him telling it like it is, but he probably shouldn’t do so in a public forum – call out specific players behind closed doors.
Feels like our “D” is at that point where they are either going to gel and kick some tail or completely fall apart and become an unmitigated disaster with internal sniping, etc. We’ll see
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The moment of truth….Williams took it literally.
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Are all of you kidding? Here’s a kid with some heart…a pulse. I’ll take Williams calling his teammates out publicly all day if that’s what it takes to inspire some of these absolute pre-madonna’s out there. We’ve got a culture problem and you want to pick on the one salmon we have swimming upstream against it? These kids are babies, as evidenced by the play on field. All talent, no heart. At least Williams puts his play where his mouth is and goes all out. We could use a lot more of this around Athens.
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Yes, because calling out your teammates in the media has worked so well for everyone else that has done it. Like….? It is much more likely to cause division in the locker room. Whether he is right or not is irrelevant. I would much rather him actually slap a player in the face (as he suggested) behind close doors than call him out in the media.
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“Whether he is right or not is irrelevant”. You just summed up in one sentence what is wrong in Athens. Since when is the truth and being on the right side of an issue “irrelevant”? This is the definition of shooting the messenger. Don’t be pissed at the one kid with heart enough to care.
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I like that he cares. I am not pissed at him for that. I do think it is a mistake to call out players by name in the media. That can only lead to division and resentment. It may fire the guys up. I hope it does. But, that is not typically what happens when players/coaches do that. That is the only gripe I have. Call them out individually in a meeting room. Yell, scream, talk bad about their mommas, whatever you want to do. Just don’t call out players individually in the media.
And, I have no problem with mentioning pay-for-play or The Bounty or whatever. If that’s what it takes to get them to play like they give a damn, then I’m sure something (legal) could be worked out.
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I have no problems with him doing it since he’s already done it behind closed doors. If kids aren’t going to listen when it’s private maybe being publicly shown out will help. I also think we shouldn’t get mad at the one kid who has the stones to start making heads roll. This is the attitude we all said we wanted and were super unhappy when it didn’t materialize this year.
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This is comical. Mark Richt is running a circus, and it seems one of the tigers has turned on his own. This will surely end well.
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After going 0-10 against ranked teams and a chance at #2 Florida, every damn cage in the zoo should have an open door. What exactly is well in Athens right now? They played one decent team and got dominated. The shame of it all is that it took a player to go public. Like I said before, these coaches don’t give a shit. Sadly, it has become the Georgia Way to not say the empirer is naked.
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Aside from the Saints reference, I’ve said the exact same things over the last 7 weeks — the difference being my wife isn’t an ESPN reporter & what I say really doesn’t matter.
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I think we’re all being a little dramatic. If we win, it won’t be because of Shawn Williams. If we lose, it won’t be because of Shawn Williams. And can we quit with the doomsday crap? We haven’t even played the game yet…
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When I was at UGA, my fraternity had a sub-2.0 GPA one year. An academic rep came out to talk to us and said something like, “This is unacceptable, you boys really should be doing better, you can’t be this stupid, etc.” One of my fraternity brothers said afterwards, “I don’t think she gets it. We’re just not that smart.” Shawn Williams would have fit right in.
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Eh…who knows. None of us know. And none of it matters. This might light a fire. This might be the straw that breaks our collective backs. It might not matter at all. Maybe this leads to one of those closed door meetings and people scream and they get unified. Or maybe they get in a fight and all quit on each other. Or maybe it has more to do if we can protect Aaron Murray and stop the run.
I keep thinking back to ’07. I talked to a friend who works in the Athletic Association and watches practice every day. He told me that Thursday that we’d had an awful week of practice and looked terrible. Knowshon Moreno begged to differ…as did Trinton Sturdivant and his dance moves.
None of what we think, what is said, or what even happens on Tuesday or Wednesday will win the game. What will win it is AM hitting open WRs, us catching the ball, Gurley breaking tackles, the D causing turnovers, making plays and stops on special teams, and clogging up Driskell and Gilleslie.
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I don’t know. Given our recent history in this game it sort of feels like yet another misguided attempt at fake juice. Why is it that we have to tell our guys to get an excessive celebration penalty? What’s the point of dressing like someone we’re not? The coaches need to be concerned with crafting a solid game plan. The players need to be concerned with playing sound, fundamental football. Do those things and nothing else matters. If you need to be coerced to get motivated, if you need to be called out before it occurs to you to put it all on the field then you shouldn’t be wearing the ‘G’ to begin with. Give me some guys with heart. I don’t care if they lose as long as they play like Dawgs.
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All the criticism that the fans give out but now when a player agrees and challenges his teammates that’s supposed to be a problem? I’m glad to see somebody took “his team/his time/no regrets” to heart. I’m not gonna quibble about the form.
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Maybe we just need to give the whole team a Snickers bar?
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I’m the most sky-is-falling Georgia fan who’s ever lived when it comes to the Florida game, but . . . seriously, guys? You’re all up in arms about a throwaway comment from Shawn Williams? I don’t know if Muschamp could use this as bulletin-board material even if he wanted to, since it’s obviously a comment bemoaning Georgia’s lack of emotion, not anything pointed at a perceived failing on Florida’s part.
There are plenty of reasons to be angsty about the game this weekend, but you’re really reaching if this is one of them.
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I’d agree on the UGA portion of your comments, but I do feel like it could be an issue, and a significant one, on the officiating side. This game is always called way too tight in the opening minutes, and this may cause that to double down.
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Hells yes, Shawn, speak it, speak it! The man’s not a politician, for sure, but some damn body has to let it rip on the squishy D and their captain seems like the right guy to me. Kumbaya ain’t cuttin’ it no more! I want the team leaders in their mates’ faces all week, so don’t stop now, sir!
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Good for Shawn Williams. At least someone on that Defense has heart and is not afraid to show it and let his frustration out. This can’t hurt any worse than the crappy play. Hope springs eternal, and this gives me a sliver of hope.
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It’s all bullshit!
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Pay for play system… How ’bout play hard or you lose your scholarship?
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I am really undecided as where these comments will hurt or help the DAWGS! But this Dawg team needs someone to fire them up and get them going, CMR can’t seem to do it! Go DAWGS, beat the Gators!
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At least he had the bench Robinson and play Herrera call right, I suppose.
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These comments, while incredibly stupid, don’t mean a hell of a lot. People can get as fired up as they want, players can get fired up as they want, but this game is generally gonna be won or lost in the trenches, where fired up isn’t something that equals excellent play over 60 minutes. Fired up gets a good sprint out of someone; but football on the o-line and d-line is more of a marathon, where your training, technique, habits, strength and endurance come to bear.
All that being said, I wish Richt, in his post game message to the team last Saturday, had just come out and said “keep your f-ing mouths closed, practice hard and bring your whuppin sticks to Jacksonville.”
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I think knowing their assignments and having the absolute uneffingcompromising will to win for sixty minutes is going to be most of the difference on Saturday.
But I wonder…although starting the game with fire in the hole may only get them so far, I think a lot of competing in the SEC east this year has been about who’s come out loaded for bear at the start of the game and captured that early momentum.
These are the same idiot Gators we beat last year. Let’s do it again.
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