Georgia announces dismissal of senior WR Rara Thomas
ATHENS, Ga. — Rara Thomas is no longer with Georgia’s football program. Kirby Smart announced the dismissal of the senior wideout on Thursday, the first day of preseason practice.
Thomas was taken into custody by the Athens Clarke-County police in the early hours of Friday morning and booked into the ACCPD jail at 3:20 a.m. ET. He was charged with two counts of battery, both misdemeanors with the family violence distinction, and one count of cruelty to children in the second degree, a felony.
A native of Eufaula, Ala., Thomas was in his second season at Georgia. Thomas was at Mississippi State for his first two years, leading the Bulldogs in receiving for the 2022 season. He entered the transfer portal in December of that year and was courted by the likes of Auburn, Ole Miss, and Tennessee, among others, before choosing Georgia to continue his football future.
It wasn’t long after Thomas got to the Classic City that he experienced his first run in with the law and there are similarities in the details. Less than a month after enrolling, Thomas was arrested at a similar time of day for a misdemeanor count of family violence and a felony account of false imprisonment. Each of those charges were soon dropped as Thomas entered a pretrial diversion program and was required complete anger management and community service.
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Thomas played the 2023 season at Georgia where he struggled at times to learn the offense but flashed the ability to create big plays. He caught 23 passes for 383 yards and a touchdown on the year. Thomas had three catches for 30 or more yards and two of 40-plus. He also missed the final three games of the season with a broken foot, including Georgia’s only loss of the season to Alabama in the SEC Championship game.
Thomas was expected to be a major part of Georgia’s offense in his second season. He was in position to be the Bulldogs’ starting X receiver, competing with Dillon Bell and Colbie Young, a transfer from Miami, for that job.
