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Former Georgia quarterback Buck Belue shares story from his recruitment

Palmber-Thombsby:Palmer Thombs•04/21/22•

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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JANUARY 31: Buck Belue attends SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIII Radio Row on January 31, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Former Georgia quarterback Buck Belue is no stranger to the radio. He’s the host of the Buck Belue Show on Atlanta sports radio’s 680 The Fan every weekend from 10:00 a.m. ET to 11:00 a.m. ET. However, this week in anticipation of his new book “Inside the Hedges,” Belue took to Sirius XM’s SEC This Morning to share a story from his playing days.

“I was determined I was going to play baseball and football,” Belue said. “I remember going to Alabama and Bear Bryant was the coach and he met with us on Sunday morning, the recruits that were in town that weekend. One by one we made our way into his office. He had these little cue cards in front of him with our information on it.”

“He (Bryant) said, ‘Belue from Valdosta,’ and I said, ‘Yes sir coach.’ Then there was this long hesitation and I was wondering what he was thinking. He says, ‘What’s this about you wanting to play baseball?’ I said, ‘Yes sir coach, I’m determined I’m going to play baseball and football in college,'” Belue continued. “Again, there was this silent pause, and it was really uncomfortable, and then he said, ‘Let me tell you something Belue. We’ve never had an Alabama football player play baseball and we sure the hell aren’t going to star with you.’ I thought, ‘Oh wow.’ I couldn’t wait to get home and tell my grandfather this story because truth be told, if I had any guts I would’ve said, ‘Well coach, I don’t really want to come over here and run the wishbone, but I had to come over here and see how you guys were winning all these football games.'”

Belue ended up at Georgia, and indeed he did play both sports in college and did so successfully at Georgia. Belue was the quarterback for the 1980 National Championship winning Georgia Bulldogs before being named All-SEC in 1981. He also lettered in baseball all four years at Georgia hitting a career .356 for the Bulldogs. Belue went on to play three years in the Montreal Expos organization as well as two seasons in 1984 and 1985 for the Jacksonville Bulls of the USFL.

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