When the University of Georgia’s Redcoat Marching Band plays “Glory, Glory,” you just have a feeling everything is going to be all right.
Maybe.
The Redcoats play the Bulldogs’ unofficial fight song after touchdowns and other big plays. It is unmistakable to Georgia fans watching their beloved Bulldogs on TV or listening on the radio.
On Monday night in Inglewood, Calif., the country heard it on repeat on the biggest of stages. Georgia, 13-point favorite to repeat as college football’s national champion, embarrassed the TCU Horned Frogs, 65-7, to do just that.
You might think as a Dawg living in Western Pa. that mine is a lonely existence, but it has never felt that way to me.
Sure, everyone loves a winner. And no one has won more than the Bulldogs the past two seasons (going a combined 29-1). But even before that, when we were good but never quite good enough, I always thought Pittsburghers had a soft place in their heart for the Dawgs.
I think a lot of it has to do with maybe the most popular Steeler of the past 25 years in Hines Ward, a Bulldog from 1994-97. He’s on the short list, no doubt. You know him as the tough-as-nails wide receiver, a two-time Super Bowl champion who embodied what it meant to be a Steeler.
Steelers fans know their football. They’re sophisticated. They know Ward came from Georgia, a third-round pick who dropped in the draft because he was forced to play all over the field — wide receiver, running back and even quarterback — in college.
He’s easy to root for. I once wore my No. 19 Ward Georgia jersey to a Steelers tailgate, and I’ve never had so many people look at me, point at my jersey and come talk to me.
“Did you go to Georgia?”
“Yes, Class of ’94.”
“Were you there with Hines?”
“No, I graduated the spring before he was a freshman. But I did go there with Andre Hastings, another Dawg receiver who was a Steeler.”
“Wow, I forgot about him. He was a great player.”
“Yep, led the Steelers in receiving yards in Super Bowl XXX.”
These days, the Steelers fans in my life want to talk about George Pickens. And I want to talk to them about him, too.
The rookie from Georgia, another wide receiver of course, has all the talent in the world, I tell people. He’s not a bad guy, I say, but he needs to grow up. Can be a little bit of a knucklehead, something I write with a lot of love.
The connection between college football and pro football is a way for this Dawg to connect with Steelers fans, whether they’re strangers at a tailgate or friends who watch every Sunday and talk to me every week.
The Athens, Ga., to Pittsburgh pipeline isn’t infallible, of course. Sorry, Steelers Nation, about Fred Gibson, another wide receiver but one who didn’t pan out as a fourth-round pick in 2005.
And I’m really sorry about the first-round pick you spent on linebacker Jarvis Jones in 2013. Ouch. I thought he’d be a good pro.
The Steelers got Pickens last year. There are more Bulldogs on their way to the NFL this year. Jalen Carter won’t be around when the Steelers draft. Keele Ringo might, if the Steelers go cornerback. Or maybe Christopher Smith, a safety, on Day 2. Running back Kenny McIntosh is going to be a steal on Day 3 for someone.
I hope we get some more Dawgs in Pittsburgh. It’s hard not to become a Steelers fan living here. I love talking about my Dawgs with y’all … er, yinz.
Thanks to my Pittsburgh friends for the texts, calls and messages on social media after Monday night’s win. And to Matt, a Penn State/Steelers fan and neighbor who watched the game with me and cheered for the Dawgs because we’re friends.
Maybe George Pickens can return the favor for me in a Super Bowl some day.
A 1994 graduate of the University of Georgia, Rob Joesbury took a big leap when he moved from Georgia to Indiana in 2003 and then to Pennsylvania in 2008. He resides in Canonsburg with his wife, Katherine, and their two daughters, Charlotte and Lucy.
Rob is an associate sports editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but he's currently on strike.