Older brother guides, motivates Georgia DB Dominick Sanders

Georgia junior safety Dominick Sanders has started 25 of 26 games in his two seasons and has snagged nine interceptions, including a team-high six interceptions last season. Georgia junior safety Dominick Sanders has started 25 of 26 games in his two seasons and has snagged nine interceptions, including a team-high six interceptions last season.

By David Paschall July 21, 2016 5 min read

GEORGIA

› Last season: 10-3 (5-3 SEC)› Opener: Sept. 3 vs. North Carolina in Atlanta (5:30 p.m. on ESPN)› Fun fact: Georgia played 22 true freshmen last season, the most of any program nationally, and used 19 in the opener against Louisiana-Monroe. Georgia’s previous high for true freshmen in an opener was 13 in 2012.› COMING FRIDAY: Kentucky

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A lot has gone right for Georgia junior free safety Dominick Sanders, who has started 25 of 26 games and collected nine interceptions through two seasons.

He is motivated by an older brother who had a Bulldogs career go very wrong.

The 6-foot, 189-pounder from the Atlanta suburb of Tucker is the younger brother of Chris Sanders, a defensive back who signed with the Bulldogs in 2011 but was dismissed a few months later for allegedly stealing from a teammate. Another freshman defensive back, Nick Marshall, was involved in that incident and eventually became Auburn’s starting quarterback for two seasons and led the Tigers to the 2013 Southeastern Conference championship.

Chris Sanders didn’t have such a storybook second chance, transferring to Eastern Arizona College and then Baylor University, where a shoulder injury ended his college career, but he did graduate from Baylor and still has a younger brother looking up to him.

David Paschall

David Paschall has covered sports at the Chattanooga Times Free Press since 1999 and wrote for the Chattanooga Free Press in the nine years before that. David has mostly covered college athletics, with a focus on the University of Georgia from 2000 to 2019 and the University of Tennessee since 2020. He grew up in Chattanooga and is a graduate of the Baylor School and Auburn University. David has received multiple writing awards and has served as a Heisman Trophy voter since 2003. He has also worked in radio in Chattanooga and has been on the SEC Network's "Classic Rewind" series since 2014. David and his wife, Kelly, have three children — Conner, Emily and Spencer.

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