First time travel roster tales from Georgia veterans used to it now
ATHENS, Ga. — Georgia’s first road game of the season marks the first time Kirby Smart and his staff will have to decide who gets on the bus. That’s because for SEC games away from home, there’s a travel roster limitation.
While the number has been bumped up this season from 70 in the past to 74, it’s still a tough decision. Smart said that the deciding factors that would push a player past another include the ability to play on special teams, provide much needed depth at a position or simply have impressed the coaches to the point they see that individual as deserving.
For the guys that you regularly see on the field every Saturday, there’s not much to worry about. But for those on the fringe, the final few days of preparation are met with uncertainty and emotion.
For Tramel Walthour, Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and Sedrick Van Pran, the first time each of them travelled was for the 2020 season opener at Arkansas. The latter two were in their first seasons while Walthour was a second-year. For all three, the notification that they’d be making the trip was met the same way.
“They posted it on Thursday. You look on the board, and if you see your name on the big screen, you made the roster,” Walthour recalled. “I saw my name up there, and that was basically it. It was on from there. I was prepared so I felt like I was ready for it.”
“I was excited,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said with a smile on his face. “I was like, ‘Man, the 70 man, I made the travel list.’ I was just excited to have an opportunity to go and be part of the team for my first college football game.”
Both Walthour and Rosemy-Jacksaint got in the game. Van Pran on the other hand didn’t. In fact, he was the only offensive lineman to make the trip that didn’t. It was a learning experience for him still.
“My first time on the travel roster was COVID year, we went to play Arkansas,” Van Pran remembered. “The best way to tell that story was, Coach Luke put in everybody else but me. After the game, he kind of asked me about my experience, and I just tried to hold it together. ‘Oh, it was great.’ That’s probably the biggest thing I remember, but ultimately I think Coach Luke knew exactly what he was doing. I obviously wasn’t ready at that time, but he did an amazing job of making sure I was there to be able to experience it.”
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In the case of Dan Jackson, it took another year for him to travel with the team for the first time. That doesn’t change the way he sees it.
“It’s a great honor,” Jackson shared. “It’s what I wanted to do the first day I stepped foot on campus no matter what it looked like. If I was in a special teams role or a starter on defense, no matter what it was, anytime you make the bus it’s a true honor. That should be everybody’s goal.”
This Saturday, traveling to Auburn, there will be several players that make their first travel rosters. It’ll come as a result of hard work in spring practice, fall camp and up to this point in the season. And while all of them won’t play, there’s an opportunity to sit back and learn, experiencing what it’s like to go on the road and be the enemy so that when the time comes, it won’t be overwhelming.
