Darlington and University of Georgia (UGA) football alum Tate Ratledge announced he is declaring for the National Football League (NFL) draft in April. He is projected to be a potential first or second round pick in the 2025 draft.
Ratledge was a star athlete at Darlington during his time. Tate was a very disciplined athlete at Georgia and motivated his team to their full potential. He won the most athletic superlative in 2020 voted on by the students. Ratledge spent 4 years playing Darlington Football under head coach, Tommy Atha. He was highly recruited coming out of high school, getting offers from many large and prominent schools. The most notable publicity he recieved was when UGA head coach Kirby Smart flew into Darlington on a helicopter to watch him perform. Ratledge was also a team captain on the Georgia Bulldogs this year alongside defensive player Jalon Walker. Ratledge helped lead the Bulldogs to win the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship against Texas. They proceeded to qualify for the college football playoffs and receive a first-round bye. They eventually lost to Notre Dame in the quarter-finals of the college football playoffs.
In a recent interview after finishing the 2024-2025 season, Smart discussed that 95 percent of the team’s athletes voted Tate Ratledge and Jalon Walker to be the captains. The team only selects two captains every year, and Ratledge was privileged to be one. Smart also goes into detail on the leadership and discipline those guys brought to the team.
“He led their rooms in meetings and on the field. Tate and Jalon led on the field and off the football field.”
Ratledge is a two-time national champion and a two-time SEC champion. The majority of college football players never achieve a singular national or SEC championship, but Ratledge has managed to secure two of each. Smart continues to talk about what it takes to be a captain on the Georgia Bulldogs football team.
“Our captains are guys that lead the team and do it at a high level. They are also dominant on the field and are loved by their peers.”
In the wild ending game against Georgia Tech that lasted eight overtimes in November, Smart chose Tate for the coin toss in overtime. Smart talks about how he was chosen and motivates his teammates.
“Tate doing the coin toss is telling everyone we will win this game against Georgia Tech.”