Being a football legacy at the University of Georgia has never been a big deal for Bulldog sophomore Charlie Woerner.

In fact, he couldn’t be more proud and humbled to bear the same last name as uncle Scott Woerner, a college football Hall of Famer, still remembered as one of the best defensive backs in Georgia history.

The elder Woerner left quite the resume.

Scott Woerner still stands fifth in Bulldog history with 13 interceptions, excluding one that helped seal Georgia’s victory in the 1981 Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame, along with being one of the top punt returners the university has ever seen. The 488 yards he accumulated returning punts in 1980 still stands as a UGA single-season record.

Those are tales and numbers nephew Charlie has heard countless times.

But playing in his uncle’s shadow has never been a concern.

“I don’t know; I never really thought of it that way,” said the younger Woerner, when asked if he was ever intimidated by playing in Sanford Stadium under his family name. “My uncle never said anything about it, so it never really bothered me how good my uncle was here.”

The thought of going to another school to write his own script was never in the cards, either.

“I just wanted to come here and be who I am. I just want to be Charlie,” Woerner said. “I don’t want to live under anything else except for who I am.”

Woerner isn’t the only Bulldog “legacy” wearing Red and Black this fall.

Frank Sinkwich IV, the great-grandson of Heisman Trophy winner Frank Sinkwich, is a freshman walk-on offensive lineman for the Bulldogs, while J.T. Dooley – grandson of former head coach Vince Dooley - is a walk-on wide receiver.

“It’s never really bothered me,” Woerner said. “It was a lot (of talk) in recruiting. In high school, everybody would ask me about it, but now that I’m here, it’s not really too big of a deal for me.”

Enjoying the competition with his fellow tight ends Isaac Nauta, Jeb Blazevich, Jackson Harris and Jordan Davis takes up all of Woerner’s time.

“It’s a competition with who wants to play. Ultimately, that’s what has been fun. I look at a bunch of different wide receivers, and its young kids, competing,” offensive coordinator Jim Chaney said. “They understand that they aren’t all going to play but they’re all competing with one another. How do you get them on the field? Whoever earns the right to be on the field. That’s the way I look at it. We’re always going to play the best players. Whoever’s the best at doing that, that’s the guy who will ultimately play. They are all a little bit different. So, we’ve been able to find room for most of them, and I expect that won’t change.”

That suits Woerner just fine.

At Rabun County High School, Woerner accumulated 2,696 yards and scored 16 touchdowns as a senior, a year in which he was named the Class AA Defensive Player of the Year.

Considering Woerner (6-foot-5, 245) was used in several unconventional ways, doubling as a running back/wide receiver, he struggled somewhat when he got to Athens, learning to play on the line against big, bruising defensive ends.

“It was tough, to get down in a three-point stance every time, my hips were pretty sore to start off,” Woerner said. “It’s been an experience for sure, but it’s been a lot of fun learning something new.”

In 12 games last year, Woerner caught just five passes for 50 yards. Nauta is expecting a lot more than that come fall.

“Once you learn what’s going on, you can start playing fast and really becoming the player that you’re capable of being,” Nauta said. “But yeah, just learning the system is something he’s improved on a lot.”

No doubt uncle Scott is very proud.