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who indirectly brought about the connection with UGA, a serendipitous moment for which he will forever be grateful. While he and his father were visiting relatives in Marietta in 2018, when Georgia was playing Oklahoma in the Rose Bowl, they were taken by the fight and resolve of the Bulldog team.

“I really appreciated the way Georgia played and so did my dad. When the game was over, he said to me, ‘It would be pretty cool if you got to play for Georgia one day.’ I liked that thought very much,” Sedrick says.

“A couple of months later, Coach Smart invited me to his summer camp. At camp, Georgia made me an offer and then everything fell in place.”

The offensive scrum invigorates Sedrick. As he did in high school, he called the blocking schemes on each play for the Bulldogs. In the heat of competition, he often finds himself immersed completely, analyzing body movements, foot alignment, and signs of fatigue. Being in that state enables him to make split-second decisions that help to keep the offense churning downfield.

His extraordinary leadership meant much to the UGA program, and he is committed to sharing his knowledge to help others less fortunate. He is a shining example of how ambition and humility can coexist in a well-rounded person.

In a phone conversation with him earlier this week at 6:30 a.m.—he was taking a break from studying his playbook—he was upbeat and enthusiastic. “Things are going well,” he said. “I am enjoying the learning experience.” He spends every off-the-field hour, making sure he knows the playbook “backwards and forward.”

“The nuances of the offense are so subtle and important,” he said. Hard work has always been his mantra, which befits the Buffalo community. “This is a blue-collar city, and we try to apply the work ethic in putting a winning team on the field.”

Star quarterback Josh Allen reached out to Sedrick and the other new players on the team as soon as they arrived, trying to make them feel welcomed and comfortable. “He is a special talent,” Van Pran said. “But what I like about him is that he is a good teammate, which made me feel at home. That is one of the things I enjoyed about Coach (Kirby) Smart and Georgia. We won games and championships because we all put the team first.”