Stetson Bennett like you've never heard him before

ATLANTA – Stetson Bennett’s sit-down interview with reporters Wednesday wasn’t your typical session with mundane questions followed by cliché responses.

No, this one was very different.

Instead, Bennett answered thoughtfully and introspectively as he took the assembled scribes on a journey nobody expected. With the College Football Playoff semifinal game against Ohio State a mere three days away, it wasn't the usual thing.

Although the topics varied, Bennett responded to questions he has never truly answered before until Wednesday. He shared his candid opinion of Georgia coaches who initially tried everything they could to keep him from winning the starting job.

“They tried a lot. But I didn’t let it bother me. I did realize after 2020, and I hated them, and I was like screw you guys, blah, blah, blah. But after that, maybe it was after I started playing in 2021 and after UAB, I was like, you know, they are going to play the best player,” Bennett said. “They’re going to play the best player. Their job is to win; if they don’t win, they’re going to get fired. They’re making a lot of money right now, and they don’t want to get fired.

"So, I was like, let’s play. After that, I’m like, as long as [it's] the best player, they’re going to play me, right? It wasn’t like opinions or feelings; all I had to do was be the best player, and I was going to play.”

Bennett’s journey has been one of college football’s best stories in recent memory.

Georgia’s “Rudy” has accomplished feats the Notre Dame version could only dream of doing. Former walk-on grows up a huge Georgia fan, spends a year at junior college, comes back on scholarship; goes from being the third-team quarterback in 2021 to leading the Bulldogs to their first national championship in 41 years.

One year later, he has his team two wins away from making it back-to-back.

Dealing with doubters has been a constant.

Too short, some say. He doesn’t have enough arm strength, others suggest. He’s a former two-star, others proclaim.

Yes, Bennett has heard it all.

“I’m a small-town kid from south Georgia. I’ve played football all my life. It’s the same game I’ve played since I was 9 years old. I don’t know. But somehow, I can separate myself. When you say starting quarterback at the University of Georgia, I’m up at the Heisman Trophy ceremony, I’m like ‘Oh.’

"It almost doesn’t seem (real), but yeah, it’s tough. I see stuff on Twitter, but it’s almost like they’re not talking about me; they’re talking about the quarterback at Georgia."

Bennett continued.

"I’m just Stet Bennett from Blackshear, right? Then I can go on the field and play. A lot of stuff doesn’t matter. A lot of people pay attention to things that don’t matter. People can play like that, but I can’t.

"It’s hard for me to play against these athletes that play on the field if I’m thinking about something that doesn’t matter. I want to be the guy that grew up in Blackshear; I want to be that guy, all the gravy and everything else—my job is to play football.”

Bennett talked about the UAB game in 2021 being the game where he finally felt he belonged.

In that game, Bennett started in place of the injured JT Daniels, completing 11 of 12 passes for 288 yards and five touchdowns.

"The biggest thing about UAB, first of all, it gave me some nuts. I threw like 11 plays, threw like five touchdowns—I never had a game like that in my life,” Bennett said. “But it wasn’t the stat line or anything like that. I kind of figured that was an outlier, but the biggest thing was when I went back and watched the tape, I could see my motion. Yeah, that was what I was working on. That’s what I wanted to do, and it showed up. That’s how it was built. It wasn’t like we beat UAB by a million. But if that’s right, then yeah, I can play.”

Bennett would expound on that question later in the interview.

When asked when he finally felt he could be a successful quarterback in the SEC, Bennett said the results would ultimately speak for themselves.

“I’d always make these throws like one or two and I'd be like 'Man, there's no way that's not good.' I keep hearing people tell me that I'm not good, but that looked good, and I'd look at it and be, 'Am I dumb?' I didn't think so,” Bennett said. “If I can do it once, I can do it all the time. It's just a motion. I don't want to sound like a nerd or smarter than I am, but gravity works, physics works, and blah, blah, blah. If I can do it once and figure how to do it multiple times, I might be good.”

Bennett spoke to the rollercoaster ride that it’s been for his family, smiling that he’s never asked, noting “That’s like saying ‘Hey, what’s it been like since I became a rock star?’ That’s tough to ask. I’ve never asked that. I don’t know though; I do wonder.”

Bennett almost became emotional when asked what it’s been like to have his younger brother Luke on the team with him this year.

"It's been awesome. Me and Luke are really sentimental. Seeing your childhood home or going back to your elementary school from when you were a kid. That'll make me tear up. So, for my little brother to come here and play football with me at the University of Georgia, we grew up coming to games and grew up on Saturday morning or Friday night after a high school game coming and running and then going to games. Are you kidding me? Yeah, it's pretty cool."

Although their paths rarely cross at practice, there have been some opportunities during drills when both Bennetts have been on the field at the same time.

"Yeah, we've done drills and stuff like that. Every time I throw to him, I'm like, 'Nice,'" Bennett said. “I honestly get a little nervous throwing to him. I don't know, I don't want to mess it up."

Another aspect of Bennett’s persona that came through during the interview was just how much winning means to him.

Even on days when Georgia’s offense has not been as crisp as he hoped, Bennett said it’s been about the final score of the game with him.

"Yeah, I mean I think we (the offense and defense) pick each other up. It might be 13-10 on Saturday, and that would suck for us. Man would I hate that,” Bennett said. “But if it is, then with two minutes left, we've got to go get a field goal. It doesn't matter. It's the next play and the next play to the highest possible execution that we can muster, no matter what the situation is, what we're doing."

As far as the accolades Bennett shrugs those off the same way he avoids defenders with his “dead leg” on one of his patented touchdown runs.

The same process applies to Bennett’s thoughts on his appreciation for how difficult it is to repeat as national champions.

"Those pats on the back feel good. Then you start to believe what they've told you, and it's not true. Good or bad, what they tell you is never true. And then you literally forget how you did it,” Bennett said. “It's the craziest thing in the world, but that's how you do it. You don't listen to that voice inside your head that tells you after the second time you've missed your workout, 'Alright, you've celebrated long enough. Now it's time to go.' And then you keep doing it.

“You don't do what you did last year, when you were hungry and there really was no other option if you wanted to keep playing here but to win. People lose track of that. People lose track of how they felt before. They start to give more to the bright lights, all the shiny and glittery stuff, and football's not about that. Football's not about shiny and glittery. It's football, and it's always going to be football."

Bennett does not know what his playing future holds after Georgia, but he certainly hopes to play at the next level for as long as he can.

“I will not be making the call to cut off my football career unless my leg gets cut off early,” Bennett said. “That will be someone else's call.”

In closing out Wednesday’s session, Bennett spoke to the journey and what lies ahead Saturday against Ohio State.

It’s certainly been a marvelous ride.

“Could I have done this anywhere? I don't know. That's what was so cool about winning a national championship. Yes, it was a goal, and it was our teammates, and it was amazing,” Bennett said. “But for me personally, two weeks after I'm sitting in a math class, and I'm like, 'Oh, so it doesn't change. It's life. It keeps going on.'

"I was so grateful to realize that then, instead of working at a job for 40 years to reach that goal, and reaching that goal when I'm 63 and being like 'Crap.' Yeah, you're going to have to work, but it's not about the championships or the gravy at the end of the journey. It's about the journey. That's why you have to pick something you love, because then you can get through the day-to-day and work hard and chase excellence, and be proud of it. Otherwise, it's hard.”