Blankenship, RodrigoGeorgia redshirt freshman kicker Rodrigo Blankenship felt the need this week to apologize for his season and for the actions of his father.
The 6-foot-1, 191-pound walk-on from Marietta made 14 of 18 field-goal attempts for the Bulldogs, who capped an 8-5 year with a 31-23 victory over TCU in the Liberty Bowl on Dec. 30. Blankenship was perfect on all 26 extra-point tries.
"It is evident Georgia deserved better than what I was able to offer this season," Blankenship posted early Friday morning on social media, "and I would like to apologize for my clearly-defined deficiencies."
Blankenship started September as Georgia's backup kicker but took over when redshirt sophomore walk-on William Ham, who reportedly is no longer on the team, missed four of his first seven field-goal attempts. Blankenship became a fan favorite in early November, when he made a 25-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bulldogs a 27-24 win at Kentucky and kept his helmet on afterward during an interview with the SEC Network.
It was after his 4-for-4 field-goal performance in Lexington when his father, Ken Blankenship, expressed disappointment that first-year Georgia coach Kirby Smart had not put his son on scholarship.
Blankenship's father spoke out again this week in a letter he sent to multiple media outlets, calling it an "injustice" that his son is still a walk-on.
"This has gone beyond the point of money being an issue," his father wrote. "The real issue is whether our son deserves to be on scholarship. In two months, Coach Smart went from 'We have a damn good field-goal kicker over there' to 'I'm not sure if we trust Rodrigo to be the player we want in that position.' That was the excuse/rationale/explanation he employed in our meeting on Jan. 2 after delivering a well-planned and well-conceived litany of deficiencies regarding our son's practice, injury and emotional 'issues.'
"This would be after he trusted our son enough to kick field goals and extra points for the last 10 games of the season."
After apologizing for his season, Rodrigo Blankenship posted, "I would also like to apologize for my father's interactions with the media this season. He acted without my knowledge each time, and each incident was uncalled for."
Blankenship also kicked off 55 times this season for Georgia, with 20 touchbacks.
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.