RETROBEAST: CHARLES GRANT

Another week, another BEAST of the vintage variety. In this installment of RETROBEAST we have chosen to spotlight the DAWG that most stands out in the memory of Wifey as a player that intimidated the opponent and dominated the game from the time he stepped off the bus.

RETROBEAST: CHARLES GRANT, #19, Defensive end (1999-2001)

Charles Grant was a prized recruit of former UGA head coach Jim Donnan. He was the type of player whose reputation routinely preceded him to the point of reaching nearly legendary status before playing a down for the Georgia Bulldogs. Grant is a native Georgian from Colquitt and cousin of former Georgia Bulldog Phillip Daniels that played his high school football at Miller County High where he was a star two-way player. Big number 19 had a one-year layover at Hargrave Military Academy in 1998 before finally making his way to Athens in 1999. Grant was a 1997 Parade Magazine All-America for Miller County, a season in which he tied running back Herschel Walker’s state single-season touchdown record with 45 while racking up 3,472 all-purpose yards. During his three year career at Miller County High School, the future Georgia defensive end totaled 101 touchdowns.

Not sure a 6 foot 3 inch, 285 pound man could possibly be nimble or fast enough to be responsible for a touchdown total such as that?? Well, fear not Reader. I can provide you with video evidence. Just watch as a Grant rumbles 90-plus yards for the touchdown as a senior for the Pirates.



Once he arrived in Athens in 1999, the biggest question seemed to be exactly how huge the impact was going to be for this talented DAWG. Grant played both offense and defense as a freshman at Georgia recording 33 tackles and seven sacks, while also seeing time in offensive backfield rushing for 79 yards and three touchdowns. Grant went on to be a three-year letterman and a two-year starter at the University of Georgia. After totaling 63 tackles and six sacks as a junior, this multi-skilled player ended his collegiate career with 136 total tackles, 27 tackles for loss and 15 sacks, which ranks sixth on the school’s all-time list. Grant rounded out his final season in Athens by being named 2nd team All-SEC by both the AP and the Coaches.



Grant was taken with the 25th overall pick in the first round of the 2002 NFL Draft. From the Saints official website:

A cornerstone of the Saints defense since his arrival, Grant has consistently been a force as a pass rusher and against the run. He anchors the left side of the defensive line and ranks 10th in club history with 41.5 sacks. The former first round pick out of Georgia has started 90 games since joining the Saints in 2002, more than any other player over that span. His 2008 season was derailed after eight games with a triceps injury, landing Grant on injured reserve for the first time in his career. He was off to a strong start, including notching 41 tackles, posting his first multi-sack game since 2004 and teaming with DT Sedrick Ellis for a safety. Combining with Will Smith to give the Saints one of the top defensive end tandems in the league, in his career Grant has posted 452 tackles, 13 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries – including one in 2002 that he returned 34 yards for a touchdown – and an interception. No player in club history has posted more sacks in his first three years than the 27.5 that Grant had from 2002-04.

You can check out the rest of Grant’s official bio HERE.

P.S. – Grant is one former Georgia player that still bleeds red and black. Prior to the start of this football season, big Charles showed everyone why he is still a Damn Good Dawg!

RETROBEAST: KENDRELL BELL

When news broke that the DAWGS had a new defensive coordinator in the person of Todd Grantham, currently the defensive line coach with the Dallas Cowboys, I was very interested to hear Grantham’s philosophy for coaching the DAWGS. After reading the quotes from Grantham’s teleconference I was jacked and ready to GATA myself! We are months away from the players strapping on the pads and hitting the field again and that is where we will find out all we need to know about Coach Grantham and the new defense at Georgia, but I certainly like what I’ve heard so far. So, as we usher in a new era of gridiron head busting at the University of Georgia, I present for your reading pleasure this edition of RETROBEAST.

RETROBEAST: KENDRELL BELL, #37, Linebacker (1999-2000)

Kendrell Bell was a monster at middle linebacker for Jim Donnan’s DAWGS during the 1999 and 2000 seasons after playing two years at Middle Georgia Junior College. Bell was a native Georgian and a standout at Laney High School in Augusta, Georgia before bringing his hard-hitting game to Athens. Kendrell was a physical presence on the field, quickly earning a reputation as a ferocious hitter and sure tackler. I loved to watch Bell play “between the hedges” and I was as sad to see him graduate as any DAWG I have cheered. As far as I’m concerned, if for nothing more than his hard earned and well deserved reputation alone, Kendrell Bell was absolutely A DAMN BEAST.



From Bell’s official web site:

“He earned All-State honors for the Wildcats and was named All-South by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kendrell also lettered in basketball and track at Laney and finished fifth in the state in the shot put his senior year. From Laney, Bell headed to Middle Georgia Junior College in Cochran, Georgia, where he racked up 132 tackles and 6.0 sacks for a Warriors defense that ranked first in the nation in 1998. His freshman season, he tallied 698 yards rushing as a fullback. After two season, Kendrell headed to the University of Georgia and continued his outstanding play as a linebacker for the Bulldogs. He started 16 games for Georgia and completed his college career with 153 tackles (95 solo), 10.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles and 14 quarterback pressures. As a junior, he set a single-season school record with five blocked kicks. He was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection his senior year. Kendrell majored in Child and Family Development at Georgia. He and his wife Tahira Locke-Bell reside in Hollywood, Florida.”

If you prefer your info in the outline form you can check out Bell’s DAWG days below….

College Career:


• Started 16 games as a defensive standout at Georgia
• Recorded 153 tackles (95 solo), 10.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks, four interceptions, two fumble recoveries, five forced fumbles and 14 quarterback pressures
• Started the final 10 games of his senior season at middle linebacker
• Finished second on the team with 92 tackles (53 solo), 5.0 stops for loss, 2.0 sacks, two quarterback pressures, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles
• Added a pass defensed and an interception
• Was a second-team All-Southeastern Conference selection
• Finished fourth on the club with 61 tackles (42 solo) as a junior
• Also had 5.0 tackles for loss, 5.0 sacks, 12 quarterback pressures, three forced fumbles, a pass defensed and three interceptions
• Set a school single-season record with five blocked kicks
• Began his college career at Middle Georgia Junior College in Cochran, Georgia
• Tallied 132 tackles and 6.0 sacks for a defensive unit that ranked first in the nation in ‘98
• Gained 689 rushing yards as a fullback during his freshman campaign
• Majored in Child and Family Development at Georgia

Kendrell was a second-round selection (39th overall) of the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 2001 NFL draft. Bell was voted the AP NFL Defensive Rookie of the year in 2001. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.

ME, KIRBY AND THE GATORS

Kirby Smart was a four year letterman for our DAWGS from 1995-1998. I’m pretty sure you already knew that part. What you probably didn’t know is Smart and I shared our time at Georgia until I graduated from Grady in the spring of 1998. Now while I shared an afternoon bus with Mike Bobo three days a week in 1997, I had no such (meaningless) relationship with a young Kirby. Why does any of this matter? Well, 1997 was a nice year for the Georgia football team. It was Jim Donnan’s best Bulldogs team and Kirby was a major contributor to that squad. What’s more, the DAWGS beat Florida and Steve Spurrier that year 37-17 after entering the game as 20 point underdogs. This is relevant because I was at that game, my first Georgia/Florida experience, and it is justifiably my first, greatest first person memory as a DAWGS fan and Kirby played a big role in the win. Therefore, according to my bourbon influenced connectivity chain, Mr. Smart and I are eternally linked.

In 1997 a group of fellow Georgia fans and I headed south to the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party with more tickets to the game than we knew what to do with and no idea what we were in for. We spent the night before the game partying deep into the night and sleeping on the floor at a friend’s house in Valdosta only to wake early on game day feeling bouncy, bright-eyed and bushy tailed as if we knew it was going to be a great day. As soon as we got to Jacksonville and got parked for some alcohol-based tailgating we ran into some good ole boy strangers from south-Georgia and they readily offered up shot after shot of some libation I remember only as Hot Damn. Needless to say, by the time we wobbled our way to the stadium and found our seats, we were well oiled and wide open.

We cheered and body-surfed and talked trash to every Gator within shouting distance as Bobo threw to Hines and Corey Allen, Robert Edwards ran for touchdown after touchdown and…this is where Kirby comes in…the DAWGS picked three Gator quarterbacks off a total of four times in the game, of which, Kirby had two and should’ve had another. The Georgia defense was great that day coming up with big stop time and again and Mr. Smart played smart and was seemingly always around the action. Kirby would go on to lead the Bulldogs with six interceptions in 1997 and that was while sharing the same field as future NFL Hall-of-Famer Champ Bailey.

This is clearly the memory zenith of football fandom during my college daze and while it may not be the first thing I recall about that day, that game, that glorious victory over the HATED Gators or even that trip, Kirby’s contributions to the win absolutely rank as my favorite memory of the current Alabama defensive coordinator’s time as a DAWG.

That was then. This is now. Who knows? There may be a memory or two that have yet to be crafted by Smart at (for) the University of Georgia, just in a different role. I have no idea, but I will be keeping a keen eye on the goings-on in Athens in the coming days…just in case.