Georgia safety giving up football after ‘a number of concussions'

Georgia junior football player Rashad Roundtree announced he is giving up football due to concussions, which caused him to miss most of this past season.

Roundtree, a reserve at safety and inside linebacker, revealed the news in a series of Twitter messages he posted on Wednesday.

“As a result of a number of concussions, it is with a heavy heart that I announce that my journal in the path of football has come to an end,” Roundtree wrote. “As a child, all of my dreams involved playing football and it deeply saddens me that I can’t play anymore. I want to humbly thank everyone that has supported me and who continue to support me.

“From little league, to middle school, through high school and now at Georgia my life has always been filled with football. My best memories involve being out on the field with my boys and with my family in the crowd cheering me.”

Roundtree did not play this season. He did not practice for the latter part of the season. Head coach Kirby Smart said that Roundtree was dealing with injuries.

An AJC Super 11 selection in 2014 out of Lakeside High in Evans, Roundtree played in 24 games as a freshman and sophomore, mostly on special teams. He began as a safety, briefly tried inside linebacker in 2016, the moved back to the secondary.

It is unclear whether Roundtree will remain at UGA on scholarship, but that is usually an option in medical cases. Roundtree could take a medical disqualification, allowing the team to keep him on scholarship but not having him count against the team’s NCAA scholarship limit of 85.

> Also: Read more about concussions in college athletics, and the steps some schools are taking to minimize concussion-related injuries on myAJC.com

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