Former Bulldog Kamari Lassiter is giving back to his former school.
Tuesday, the current Houston Texan announced he was contributing $4,000 back to the UGA Athletic Association, signifying his No. 4 jersey with the Texans following his first season in the NFL.
His donation is earmarked to help cover costs associated with tuition, fees, room and board, and other necessary items.
“This gift is me trying to give back to the University, a place, the people who poured so much into me,” said Lassiter. “Throughout my time at Georgia, I learned so much and met so many people who laid their hands on my life and I can never fully repay the University of Georgia and the Athletic Association back for that.”
Lassiter was taken with the 42nd overall pick in the second round of the 2024 draft.
“This is something small that I can do for the people who come after me because I want to leave the place better than how I found it. I feel like this is a small token for all of the lessons, the memories and for everything I learned while in Athens,” said Lassiter, a Savannah native. “This is a place I can always come back to. It’s home. Georgia gave me the opportunity to chase my dreams, get an education and make my people proud, and now I am in the NFL. It’s my duty to give back.”
Lassiter started 29 games in his career for the Bulldogs during Georgia’s run to back-to-back 2021 and 2022 national championships.
Those teams compiled a 42-2 record during the 2021-23 seasons that Lassiter suited up for Georgia. He finished with 86 tackles, including a sack and 8.5 tackles for loss, and had an interception.
“We are grateful for Kamari giving back to the program,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. “His mother, Kammie, and his family instilled values and a work ethic in him, and he’s developing into a man we can all be proud of. Kamari was a special player for us during the 2021 and 2022 championship runs, and he is proving what sort of competitor he will now be in the NFL.”
During his rookie year, Lassiter was one of the NFL’s top rookie defenders for the Texans. He tallied 63 stops, was responsible for a safety and collected four interceptions during his team’s run to the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
His interception in the Wild Card game against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers marked only the second interception for a Texan in playoff history (J.J. Watt, 2012).
“For Kamari you can tell he’s built for this,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said of Lassiter earlier to this year. "When it comes to the mental toughness piece that plays a lot into being a good football player at this level, you have to be mentally tough. You have to have that next-play mentality and at Georgia, Kirby has done a great job, you can tell, of raising them the right way.”
