Quarterback Carson Beck Becomes Face of Georgia Football Team
ATHENS, Ga. (AP) — Carson Beck is one of the faces of college football, a role that was five years in the making and still feels a bit uncomfortable.
The Georgia quarterback has never been much of a rah-rah guy, but he can’t hide any longer as he leads the nation’s No. 1 team into a national championship-or-bust season.
“The biggest thing for me is not only being a leader of the offense but trying to be a leader of the entire team,” Beck said. “That’s a step for me.”
The No. 1 Bulldogs open the season Saturday against No. 14 Clemson at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta with no questions about what is expected.
A year ago, a three-point loss to Alabama in the Southeastern Conference championship game snapped a 29-game winning streak and cost them a chance to go for a third straight national title.
For Beck, nothing less than a celebration at the end of his final college season will suffice.
“That’s the main reason for coming back,” he said. “Coming back and finishing the job and winning the national championship.”
Beck is a bit of a unicorn in today’s college football world, a player who spent three years on the sideline, patiently waiting for his chance to play for the red and black. He didn’t transfer to another school. He didn’t bolt for the NFL before his eligibility was up.
That’s not to say Beck hasn’t benefitted from the NIL landscape.
The decision to stay another season between the hedges was undoubtedly made much easier by several lucrative endorsement deals reported to be well north of $1 million, including one with a private jet company. He gets around campus in a $300,000 Lamborghini.