From the department of cool things

Meet Georgia’s Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library in Athens, the closest thing to a Smithsonian of Georgia football artifacts.

A sampling of what it includes: dozens of players’ jerseys, helmets and “silver britches,” football game programs (going back to the 1903 Georgia-Auburn game at Brisbane Park in Atlanta), tickets dating to the 1920s, athletic department working documents, letters from coaches, players’ scrapbooks, a hundred or so game balls, and an extensive photo archive (including the only known shot of the goat that was Georgia’s original mascot).

Hasty’s favorite items? One is a thick, wool jersey from the 1920s that is a darker red than what we now associate with the Georgia Bulldogs, and which has no insignia. He’s also partial to a silver chalice Georgia won when it beat Auburn in 1894. “It’s the oldest Georgia football artifact we have,” he said.

But, he said, “the one item everyone wants to see is Herschel Walker’s helmet.”

It’s all open to the public.