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Jeff Mixon had a Georgia "G" on the left chest of his black collared shirt.

His 5-year-old son, Colt, wore a red Todd Gurley jersey. The duo stood out as

future Georgia quarterback Jacob Eason and his Lake Stevens

teammates left the locker room in purple and gold.

"[Eason] walks out, looks over at us, looks back," Mixon said. "He saw that red

jersey. And he walks straight over to [Colt], picked him up and hugged him. And

said 'Wow, that's awesome you guys came to the game.'"

Eason, the No. 1 pro-style quarterback prospect in the nation, told the Mixons

he hoped his team could make the four-hour trip from Portland, Oregon, to Lake

Stevens, Washington, worth their while. Lake Stevens High School would beat

Cascade 48-0. Mixon and Colt watched from the stands with Eason's mom,

Christine, grandmothers and family friends, talking life and Georgia football.

"I wanna be just like him when I grow up," Colt said.

"Well, you can do anything you want, buddy," Mixon said.

Mixon was a preferred walk-on linebacker at Georgia in the early 90s. Watching

so much film allows him to analyze quarterbacks with a trained eye. But after

driving four hours from Portland, Mixon and Colt got to do more than watch Eason

launch the ball 60 yards even off his back foot. After the win, not wanting to

bother the family as they started walking down the stands toward the players on

the field, Mixon and Colt hung back. To Eason's mom's dismay.

"They get down the stairs then are waving us down like, 'C'mon,' " Mixon said.

Colt saw Eason about 20 yards away and dashed to 6-foot-5 quarterback for

another hug. The families took pictures and Colt got Eason's autograph on a Lake

Stevens program. Eason's been getting that more and more as his flight to Athens

draws nearer, but according to his dad, Tony, he doesn't take it lightly.

"He takes that with great responsibility, because he remembers when he was a

little kid looking up to ball players," Eason's dad said. "Now he's in that

role, so it's pretty special to him."

And it was good for Eason to meet Mixon, too.

"It's neat that Jacob gets to meet ex-players and the guys that wore the "G" on

their chest and sweated for four years in that program," Eason's dad said. "He

gets to know some of the history and some of the past."

Years ago, a 9-year-old Mixon lost his dad in a car accident. Both his parents

were from Wrightsville, the home of Heisman Trophy winner and Georgia tailback

Herschel Walker. Watching Walker dominate in his senior season at Johnson County

High School became all the more important to Mixon. Walker's signature, the "H"

looking like a cursive "J", lies on Mixon's still-intact program from the 1979

Class A state quarterfinals.

That was way before Mixon's son Colt came along. And well before the Tucker,

Georgia, native and his family moved across the country when his wife got a job

with Nike.

Years later, Colt has a favorite player, too. And his autograph. Like father,

like son.

"It reminded me, I hate to say this, but it reminded me of people you'd meet in

Georgia," Mixon said. "Just down-to-earth, really good family."

Eight hours, round-trip, well spent.