Kickoff Countdown: Who wore it best? #92

UGASports is counting down the days until the Bulldogs’ 2024 season opener. For each day in our countdown, we will reveal our opinion of the best player in Georgia football’s history to wear that particular jersey number.

With 92 days before kickoff, UGASports selects Richard Tardits as the best Georgia player to wear jersey number 92.

Position: Defensive End / Outside Linebacker

Hometown: Biarritz, France

Height/Weight: 6-2, 220

Lettered: 1985-1988

Stats: 101 Tackles, 29 Sacks

Career: One of the most popular players of the Vince Dooley era was a player from far, far away. Richard Tardits hailed from France and learned to speak English as a high school exchange student in Augusta, Georgia. He would walk on to the practice fields at UGA in 1985 not knowing any rules of American Football. Legend has it that it was his first time walking onto a football field, period.

Playing in 41 games, including just seven starts, Tardits became one of Georgia’s best pass-rushers of all-time. In 1988, “Le Sack” tied Jimmy Payne for the most sacks by a Bulldog in a single-season with 12, including four against TCU. Tardits would finish his Georgia career with a school-record 29 sacks, which would not be broken for 16 years until David Pollack surpassed it. After college, Tardits played for four seasons in the NFL with the Phoenix Cardinals and the New England Patriots. He also played professional rugby, helping the United States win the Rugby World Cup in 1999.