Tate Ratledge graduated in 2020 and was recently drafted by the Detroit Lions with the 57th pick in the National Football League (NFL) Draft on Friday, April 25. He is the first Darlington football alumnus to play in the NFL, a major accomplishment for Ratledge, his family and the community.

The Detroit Lions are a successful NFL team that made the playoffs with a regular season record of 15 wins and 2 losses. They made the playoffs and, unfortunately, lost in a heartbreaking game to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. The Detroit Lions were a Super Bowl juggernaut team with a successful season.

Tate was an accomplished student athlete who was a highly recruited prospect coming out of high school. He committed to the University of Georgia (UGA) at the end of his high school career to play Offensive Guard. Tate won a national championship while at Georgia and was one of the best-rated offensive linemen in the country. Receiving many awards, Ratledge had an incredible college and high school career and declared for the NFL draft following UGA’s season this past year. After showing his appreciation for UGA and its athletic and football programs, he declared for the draft on January 5.

Many NFL organizations were very intrigued with Ratledge coming out of college and wanted him to assist their program, specifically their offensive line. Following an Outstanding NFL combine, he turned the eyes of many coaches and organizations. Rateldge ran a sub-5 40-yard dash as an Offensive Guard, running a time of 4.97 seconds. To put this into perspective, the average offensive lineman’s 40-yard dash this year was 5.1 seconds. This year also had a faster 40-yard dash combine than usual.

Ratledge’s old classmates and coaches have nothing but praise for Ratledge. He also holds the Shot Put record here at Darlington. When in high school, Rateldge had Georgia head coach Kirby Smart fly in to watch him play. Smart took a personal helicopter and parked it to watch him play a Friday night lights football game. This was a spectacular experience for the community. Many students had the opportunity to meet Smart while he was here.

When drafted to the NFL, Ratledge was not at the draft in Green Bay, He was with his family in UGA while most athletes were in Green Bay. This summed up the character of Ratledge showing the care he has for his community back home.

You can watch his live reaction right here.