Georgia's players pool their talents

photo Georgia head coach Mark Richt and his Bulldogs practice.

Georgia football coach Mark Richt continued a preseason tradition Friday by taking his team to the Gabrielsen Natatorium's diving well inside the Ramsey Center.

"It's awesome, and it's something we always look forward to," senior receiver Tavarres King said. "We've been banging on each other for a couple of weeks now, and it was good to get a day where we could relax and enjoy each other and have fun."

Jumping off a 10-meter platform has become somewhat of a rite of passage for Georgia players, and 6-foot-4, 335-pound freshman noseguard Johnathan Taylor made his first leap in a life jacket. He doesn't know how to swim. Senior defensive end/outside linebacker Cornelius Washington never had the confidence to take the nearly 33-foot plunge but tried it Friday.

Richt always performs a back flip off the platform and did so again.

"The older you get, the higher it gets," Richt said. "If you land wrong, something is going to get hurt. I see our guys land awkwardly, and if that was me, I would have dislocated my shoulder."

The Bulldogs will practice this morning and start game week preparations Monday for next Saturday's opener against Buffalo.

Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.

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