Georgia CB Kelee Ringo, immortality and an example of why NIL was implemented – The Athletic

ATHENS, Ga. The name, Kelee Ringo, is on the website. The image, Ringo poised to make the play that would seal his name forever in Georgia football history, is on the right side of the shirt, which you can buy for $24.99. That wouldnt have been possible a year ago, before college football players were allowed to join the capitalist market.

But in the case of Ringo, it goes a bit deeper than that. The real meaning can be divined by scrolling further down the page, to the option to buy a different T-shirt: Pink, with his name on it, and the pink ribbon signifying breast cancer awareness.

Ringos mother, Tralee Hale, has had a very public battle with breast cancer. When her son sealed Georgias national championship win with a pick-six they did what most anyone in their position would do, but could not until the past year: They capitalized on the moment, literally and figuratively, and used proceeds towards not only Hales medical care, but breast cancer awareness in general.

Yes, sir. We actually fundraised off battling breast cancer, Ringo said. It was a huge thing that we were able to help Bulldogs battling breast cancer, especially folks going through the same thing my mother did.

Ringo signed autographs at a collection show in March. And there were also the T-shirts, which include one that says Team Tralee over an outline of the state of Georgia, with pink and black lines through it. Hale and Ringo posed with a check for $165,000 that was donated by Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer to the foundation at St. Marys Hospital in Athens, where Hale had her latest round of surgeries in March.

A good amount, Ringo said when asked how much they had raised since the national championship and off his pick-six. I feel like that specific play definitely brought a lot of attention to us. But just being able to be humble about the situation, and taking things in, definitely helped us in the long run.

Ringos play became many things. A personal story about helping his mother and her cause. A national story about what NIL rights were supposed to be about. And the moment has become, and probably will stay, one of the top moments in Georgia football history.

Whatever Kelee Ringo does the rest of his football career, or really in his life, he now has something that will be forever remembered. Only a few people know what thats like. Lindsay Scott is one.

Run, Lindsay, Run. It became the most indelible moment from the previous Georgia national championship season. A book (by Robbie Burns in 2010) called it the greatest moment in Georgia football history: Georgia trailed 21-20 in the waning moments against Florida, and was at its own 7-yard line, when quarterback Buck Belue scrambled and found Scott at the 20, and then he outran the Florida defense as Larry Munson simultaneously described it and cheered:

Run Lindsay! 25, 20, 15, 10, 5, Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott, Lindsay Scott!

Less than a minute later, Munson proclaimed: Man, there is going to be some property destroyed tonight, which Kirby Smart harkened back to after this past seasons national championship: Theres going to be some property destroyed tonight in Indianapolis!

Munsons call became so indelible that it overshadowed whatever was said by the ABC play-by-play announcer. That man, Al Michaels, would have to settle for a memorable call in a certain hockey game earlier that year.

Scott went on to be a first-round pick, going 13th overall to the New Orleans Saints in the 1982 NFL Draft. He played four seasons, catching 69 passes and one touchdown. He has since spoken publicly about off-field problems, but positively about the impact that play has had on his life.

Look, Ive had some ups and downs in my life. But that game and that moment and winning a national championship with that group of guys is a ray of light for me, Scott told the SEC Networks Tony Barnhart in 2019. That fact that 40 years have passed and we still enjoy thinking about it is something really special. I will never get tired of it.

Belue, now an Atlanta radio host, was Scotts roommate on the road and remembered talking to him the night before about how frustrated Scott was about his lack of production. He didnt have a touchdown to date that season. That changed the next afternoon.

At the time you dont realize the impact, Belue said this month. We didnt realize until we got back early in the week, when we started hearing the Munson replay on Monday or Tuesday, it sort of sinks in then that Hey, youre part of Georgia history now. I think its a great example of how quickly things can change.

The parallels between Scott and Ringos touchdown arent perfect: The latter was in the actual national championship game, the former wasnt. But without Scotts touchdown Georgia almost certainly doesnt win that game, and thus almost certainly doesnt win the national title. Ringos pick-six, as electric a play as it was, only clinched the game and the national championship; Georgia was still sitting on an eight-point lead with more than a minute left before Alabama quarterback Bryce Youngs errant pass floated into Ringos hands.

There were other huge, game-turning moments in that game, all arguably more important: Stetson Bennetts 40-yard touchdown pass to AD Mitchell, which put Georgia ahead 19-18. Bennetts 15-yard touchdown pass to Brock Bowers on the subsequent drive, which came on third-and-1, so it was arguably the difference between a four-point and eight-point lead. And a number of other defensive plays down the stretch, such as William Pooles pass breakup on third down, forcing Alabama to punt down 19-18.

I dont think that play won the game, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart said. I know people would beg to differ, but I would argue the offensive drive prior to that did a lot to help that. I would argue that a lot of the plays made in the red area did that. I never look at games and say one play did it because its not that way. There were so many plays made in that game that you could point that to.

But the Ringo pick-six is the play that Georgia fans have latched onto, the play that spawned countless reaction videos. Belue was at an autograph show this summer and saw paintings and photographs of Ringos play.

It opens your eyes to how big that play was, or how large it will be remembered as one of the great plays in Georgia history, Belue said. I think it parallels sort of the same thing that Lindsay did.

There is another eerie, overlooked similarity between the two plays: Ringo caught the ball at the Georgia 21-yard line. Scott caught the ball at the Georgia 21. (Ringo was a bit closer to the 22, Scott was a bit closer to the 20.)

The goal now for Ringo is not to be forever known only for that play. Alabama receiver DeVonta Smith was a freshman when he caught the pass on second-and-26, and thats almost a footnote to what became a Heisman career. (The sad downside to that play was that ended up being the final one for Georgia safety Dominick Sanders, who otherwise had a great and record-breaking college career.) Ringo, meanwhile, has the tools to keep producing at a very high level. A former five-star prospect, hes already being mentioned as a possible high first-round pick whenever he enters the NFL Draft. Which is why Smart has perhaps downplayed The Play, and pushed Ringo to keep working, including on his tackling ability.

He can let that play live in infamy, or he can decide to make a lot of those plays, go be a great player and go make money to play in the NFL and develop, Smart said. I think thats the route he is taking.

Thats what Ringo said hes aiming to do: Yes, that was a big play in a big situation, but I feel like, Man, whats next? Its also not mutually exclusive with remembering the play enough in order to capitalize on it. For years college athletes were not legally (at least under NCAA rules) able to do that. The bylaws changed just in time for Ringo, his mother, St. Marys Hospital and everywhere else they choose to focus their energy.

Belue, who has spent some time with both Ringo and his mother, marveled at the mother-son duo.

Shes such a light, he said. Theyre out to do good. We need more of this, these days.

(Top photo: Carmen Mandato / Getty Images)

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Georgia CB Kelee Ringo, immortality and an example of why NIL was implemented - The Athletic