On a bright and sunny Monday afternoon, members of the Georgia football program gathered outside the clubhouse at The Georgia Club. With armbands that read “BCA,” football was the last thing on any of their minds.
Over 50 current and former players attended Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer’s 20th annual charity golf tournament. The event is in honor of former player Chris Abbott and in support of his mom and 21-year breast cancer survivor Teresa Abbott.
For the players, it is an opportunity to get away from the field and impact their local community.
“If there’s any way I can help somebody or make somebody’s day because you never know what [they] are going through,” freshman wide receiver Sacovie White said. “For the most part, I feel like I’m making an impact on people, and that always makes me feel good and makes other people feel good. So it’s a win-win situation.”
The event began 20 years ago, when the family decided to partake in the Susan G. Komen walk supporting breast cancer. In order to participate, walkers oblige themselves to raise a certain amount of money. Rather than ask friends and family for donations, the Abbott family opted to host a charity golf tournament.
One day when the family was in Athens, it asked former head coach Mark Richt if the football team would be willing to help put the event on. Richt said ‘absolutely’ and according to Teresa’s husband and co-founder of BBBC Jay Abbott, never missed an event.
With current head coach Kirby Smart en route to Texas for SEC Media Days obligations, outside linebackers coach Chidera Uzo-Diribe assumed responsibility of the attending players this year.
“I think everybody in their family, whether directly or indirectly, has somebody that has fought breast cancer,” Uzo-Diribe said “To be able to come out for a cause like that, obviously play a great game and then get people to get to know some of our players.”
The tournament pairs one football representative with a group of three other golfers. The experience allows fans to interact with the players and get to know them greater than just somebody they root for on gameday.
“That’s what makes the event,” Jay Abbott said. “If the players didn’t come out, it’s just another golf tournament.”
Abbott said he has stories where players kept connections with members of their group, even years after they left the program.
While connecting with the community is what’s most important throughout the tournament, the event also allows players to interact with each other and talk a little trash about their golf games. According to many on the team, running back Cash Jones is the best on the course.
“[The players] truly enjoy being around each other,” Uzo-Diribe said. “You get to see the camaraderie, how they joke around and how they’re involved with one another. We preach on connection as one of our DNA traits, and you definitely get to see that.”
What started off as a one-time event, quickly turned into much more. Since the organization began in 2004, Bulldogs Battling Breast Cancer has donated about $2.2 million to the cause. Last year’s golf tournament raised $275,000, setting this year’s fundraising goal at $300,000.
“Every Labor Day, the comedian Jerry Lewis used to put on a muscular dystrophy telethon, and I used to watch it as a kid all the time,” Jay Abbott said. “And his famous quote was ‘our goal was to raise at least one more dollar than last year.’ So that’s kind of been our mantra.”
With a successful plan in place, the event is sure to continue connecting the Athens community for a long time, and Georgia football will continue cherishing the opportunity to be involved.
“This is just a fun opportunity to connect with people that otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to connect with,” wide receiver London Humphreys said. “The whole story behind this event is super meaningful, and getting to hear their family talk before it all and just how much it means to them and other people who’ve been here in years past is a pretty neat thing to be [a part of].”
