Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint making most of senior season, Georgia career

ATHENS, Ga. — Saturday is Senior Day for Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint and several other veteran Georgia players, and that’s meant plenty of time for reflection this week as the Bulldogs prepare to take on the Rebels of Ole Miss. For Rosemy-Jacksaint, that time spent thinking took him back to his freshman year out of St. Thomas Aquinas (Fla.) and a play he’ll never forget – both for the highs and lows of what it meant.

Rosemy-Jacksaint scored his first career touchdown against Florida back in 2020. The 32-yard strike from Stetson Bennett on 3rd and 7 put the Bulldogs on top 14-0 early in the game. However, on that same play, Rosemy-Jacksaint saw his freshman season come to an end. He suffered a gruesome broken ankle and had to leave the field with an air cast put on immediately.

“My freshman year, my first touchdown. That would probably be my favorite moment. I don’t care if I got hurt after the play, that’ll forever be the moment that sticks out to me,” Rosemy-Jacksaint said. “In that one play, I had a lot about myself I learned and a lot about myself that I had to grow into following that play. I just felt like that one play, everything that transpired afterwards shaped me to who I am today. It was a good and bad experience.”

“I learned that it’s not hard to get up. When life knocks you down, you’ve got to get up,” he continued. “I was down, I was down on myself. I had a lot of doubts. It was just like, there was a lot of adversity going on that I had to overcome. I just kept God first, just kept him on my side. I prevailed, I came through it. I just thank God for it.” 

Rosemy-Jacksaint’s time at Georgia has been filled with a lot more good than bad experiences. While he missed the final four games of the 2020 season, he returned to play in 13 of 15 for the 2021 team that went on to win a National Championship, the program’s first in 41 years. The Pompano Beach, Fla. native provided a big block for Bulldogs tight end Brock Bowers in the championship game against Alabama, helping clear the way for Bowers to score and put UGA up eight with under 4:00 to go in the game.

The next year, Georgia did it again, winning a second straight title, and Rosemy-Jacksaint played an even bigger part. Seeing action in all 15 games and starting over half of them, he finished fourth on the team in receptions and fifth in yards, turning 29 grabs into 337 yards and two touchdowns. His on-field development is only a part of where both he and those around him feel he’s grown the most during his time in Athens.

“He’s one of the best leaders on the team,” Rosemy-Jacksaint’s classmate and teammate, offensive lineman Tate Ratledge said. “He’s really stepped into a leadership role, and I think he did a really good job during that time of staying in during rehab and improving himself. He’s waited his turn, and now that it is his turn, he’s stepped into that leadership role and become a big, vocal voice of our offense and our team. He’s doing a really good job.”

“Marcus man, he is special. He’s one of the guys when I got here I first looked up to. I saw him, the way he works, day-in, day-out. I know I’ve said it a lot, but just to sit there and watch him do what he does and just leads. He always brings energy. He’s always that positive mindset,” sophomore safety Malaki Starks added. “Just for him, Saturday, Senior Day, I know it’s going to be a special day for him. I’m very grateful to be on the team for him. He makes me better. We go at it in practice. Me, him and Bull (Javon Bullard), we all go at it with him. He’s very competitive, as are all the other wide receivers. I know it’s going to be a special day for him. I’m just happy and honored to be on the same team. 

Rosemy-Jacksaint’s role on this year’s Georgia team remains significant. He’s not only an important leader, but also one of the key offensive players having hauled in 21 passes for 359 yards – the most he’s had in a single season – and two touchdowns already.

“The trust in my coaches and my teammates to put me in the right spot, right position, to put me in the right spot to make plays. Really just my coaches and my teammates, really. They do the hard work for real, I just do the easy work,” Rosemy-Jacksaint responded when asked what’s allowed him to have the career year.

“When we recruited Marcus, we knew we were getting that kind of kid. He went to a great school down in South Florida, St. Thomas (Aquinas). He’s a great kid, comes from a great family. He’s very passionate about football,” Georgia head coach Kirby Smart added of Rosemy-Jacksaint. “I don’t know, when you rank the leaders at Georgia, there’s been some great ones since we’ve been here in terms of the command and respect that they’ve earned by what they’ve been through and what they’ve done. He would be right there at the top of those guys in terms of when he speaks, people listen. The way he competes, his toughness, his effort. He upholds our culture, begs to be on special teams. He just embodies what you want a Georgia football player to be. I have a lot of respect for him as a competitor.”

Rosemy-Jacksaint and Georgia kickoff Saturday night at Sanford Stadium against No. 9 Ole Miss at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. The network’s premiere pregame show will also be in Athens to feature the contest with College GameDay airing at 9:00 a.m. ET on the same channel. The Bulldogs are considered to be double-digit point favorites according to Vegas Insider.