Brett Thorson shares on impressive tackle, hilarious viral video

ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia punter Brett Thorson won SEC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday for his performance against Tennessee, and some are saying it’s all because of one single tackle. He didn’t deny that.

Thorson saved a touchdown with a stop of Volunteer return man Boo Carter after 26 yards at the UGA 37. It’s the first return of more than 2 yards given up by the Bulldogs since November 12th of 2022 (a 63-yard touchdown by Mississippi State’s Zavion Thomas), and while it wasn’t the goal when the ball was snapped, Thorson certainly is enjoying the clout that’s come with his tackle.

The Melbourne, Australia native and product of ProKick Australia was posted as a special speaker to the Georgia Football team on Monday after receiving his weekly award. Head coach Kirby Smart found a humorous way to make light of his team’s missed tackles calling on Thorson to teach the team how to take a ballcarrier down. His three keys: “Be tough, be fast, and be tough.”

“I’ll give Coach Smart credit. That was his idea. I got told yesterday morning, and at first I thought, ‘Oh, this could come back and bite me in the ass if stuff doesn’t go our way in the future.’ But I figured, yeah, why not? The idea was to hopefully get a good laugh and get the team going,” Thorson said.

Coach called in a professional tackler to talk to the team 🤣#GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/J5JfBFVmm9

— Georgia Football (@GeorgiaFootball) November 19, 2024

Smart, asked about the video too, said that Thorson brings something to the team that’s hard to replicate. Thorson reminds Smart of a punter he worked with in the past, Donnie Jones who used to give not-so-serious speeches to his teammates at LSU before the Tigers’ biggest games.

“I was telling Muschamp last night, there was a guy, golly, must be 20 years now ago at LSU, a punter by the name of Donnie Jones. Donnie used to get up in front of the team. Coach Saban would let him talk to the team and break the team down every Thursday. He would talk about the upcoming opponent. When a punter gets up there and talks about an upcoming opponent and just how we’re going to dominate them and just get after them, it always provided some levity. It provided some humor. I think of Brett when I think of Donnie.”

“He’s just a funny guy. The players really enjoy him and like him,” Smart continued. “We thought it was a good opportunity for him to take advantage of what he did. We’ve struggled to tackle for whatever reason. We haven’t tackled well, so we’re searching for any answer we can. We wanted to drive that home to them that he did it.”

Thorson agrees with his head coach. Whether it’s the way he talks or the things he does, he hopes his presence on the team brings an uplifting spirit to a team always in the spotlight.

“Hopefully I just bring a pretty lighthearted, easygoing personality. Not too serious,” Thorson said. “I think the boys find it funny. Whether it’s just funny the way I say stuff or funny what I say, they get a good laugh sometimes.”

“They enjoyed it. They said it was pretty funny, obviously. Pretty lighthearted and gets spirits up. So yeah, I think the boys appreciate it,” he added on the video. “Everyone, I think, saw the humor in it of me probably being the most unathletic on the team, trying to teach the boys how to tackle. So yeah, it was good.”

Teammate, and podcast co-host, Tate Ratledge didn’t doubt that Thorson was capable of tackling. He put on 15 pounds over the offseason after all. Ratledge was however concerned that Thorson might not track down the returner Carter, a two-way high school star who was clocked during the recruiting process running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash.

“He impressed me with that one. I didn’t think he had that much running in him,” Ratledge joked during his Monday media availability. “That was my biggest concern. I knew if he got there, he’s built like a linebacker, so he could probably make the tackle. But it was getting there that would be the problem.”

“I missed the tackle on that play, and Brett saved me on that play because I was supposed to fit him inside out. He also made a good move on me,” linebacker Chaz Chambliss added, saying that Thorson has the keys to tackling spot on. “It was a big time play, especially for him. Especially him not even tackling ever since he’s gotten here, I don’t think. So no, he does a big play in a big game.”

As far as Thorson’s stance on the tackle, it’s actually not one of his prouder moments. He understands that because he was called upon as a punter to make a stop, something went wrong for his team in coverage. That starts with him kicking it, and ended with him making a play.

“Because we had a punt return, it’s definitely a weird thing to celebrate. I think the video comes out and we look at it light hearted, but obviously, it’s not a good thing,” Thorson said, ranking where the tackle goes on his list of career accomplishments. “I do feel iffy about getting around it and stuff like that. Obviously, the touchdown two and a half years ago definitely probably goes below that. But yeah, no. It’s been our second biggest return since I’ve been here. So not quite something I’m happy about. But I probably owed the boys for two and a half years of work. So I was glad I could help out just once.” 

Between that touchdown given up against Mississippi State over two years ago and last Saturday’s long return against Tennessee, Georgia had allowed just five returns for a total of -4 yards. The Bulldogs went the entire 2023 season without allowing a return and 72 straight punts without a return for positive yardage.

Of Thorson’s 76 punts in between, 40 were either fair caught, downed or went out of bounds at or inside the 20 yard line including 17 at or inside the 10. His average punt traveled 45.9 yards while only six went for touchbacks, so there’s more than just his tackling ability that’s impressive about Thorson.

“I think everything that goes into it, to start with the coaching and the game plan. They give us a good look during the week and come up with a good plan for who we’re playing against. Then you’ve got to start with the snap. I can’t punt the ball if I don’t get a good snap, so I feel like this year Beau’s been exceptional. And then the protection and the coverage. So you have Arian and Dom and whoever else has been out there, they’ve been elite,” Thorson said. “I can’t take too much credit because without any of these other pieces that I just mentioned, it can’t happen. And it has lasted about two-and-a-half years, so a lot of people have played into that. A lot of different guys, a lot of different protection, a lot of different looks. So there’s a whole team involved in that. That’s not just a punting thing.”

Georgia takes on UMass this Saturday at 12:45 p.m. ET on SEC Network. The Bulldogs then have a tighter-than-normal turnaround time, closing the season out against Georgia Tech on Black Friday (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC).