University of Georgia Athletics
Walsh Finishes Strong, Earns Degree
August 19, 2020 | Football, General, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Blair Walsh took his first class at Georgia in the fall of 2008, right as he was beginning a fantastic kicking career for the Bulldogs that would end four years later with 412 total points, which ranks second in SEC history.
At the beginning of August, from his home in Newport Beach, Calif., Walsh, now a mature 30-year-old ready to prepare for the future while still training for the present, finished up his final four classes and earned his degree.
"It's only been a 12-year process, and I guess as my head coach said, I actually, finally, finished the drill, so I appreciated that sentiment from Coach (Mark) Richt," Walsh said. "I say that jokingly but he absolutely instilled that in us. For me, my path was a little bit different. ... It's something that I definitely did want to 'Finish The Drill' on, and finish strong."
Walsh said he earned all As in his four summer classes, which were two for his major in Communication Studies, a statistics class and a marine biology lab. All the classes were, of course, taken online because of the coronavirus pandemic, and living in a place like Newport Beach helped with the lab class.
"It ended up being more of analyzing data sets and observations that you could do out on your own," Walsh said of the lab class. "Thankfully, I live near the ocean so I was able to do some of the required exercises pretty easily. It wasn't the in-the-lab, old school chemistry stuff, it was more observation and data-based."
Following his final season at Georgia, in 2011, Walsh left school one semester short of graduating so that he could prepare for the NFL Combine and focus all his energy on playing professionally. Selected in the sixth round of the 2012 draft by the Minnesota Vikings, that work immediately paid off with a spectacular rookie season that included going 10-for-10 on field-goal attempts of 50 yards or more and ended with his being selected first-team All-Pro and chosen for the Pro Bowl.
Finishing his degree wasn't really on his mind at that point, but over time it popped up again and again.
"I dabbled in it, but I didn't do the full prep until the whole quarantine thing started and this unfortunate pandemic happened," Walsh said.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Glada Horvat, in charge of academics and eligibility, said she would hear from Walsh from time to time over the years and would send him the information on what classes he needed to finish for his degree. After the pandemic hit and we all were mostly stuck at home, Walsh reached out again and was all in this time.
"I did a lot of the legwork, helping him get it going, but he did awesome once he was in the classes," said Horvat, who has worked in the UGA athletic department for more than 35 years.
Walsh was very quick to give credit to Horvat for helping him get his diploma.
"I'm sure you know this, but Glada being there for 35 years like she has, she is truly the best. ... We kind of got together and were like, we need to finish this and get your degree from Georgia," Walsh said. "She got the ball rolling and helped me go down that path. I am eternally grateful for her expertise in her field."
Every year, Horvat hears from former Bulldogs, from numerous sports, who are thinking about finally finishing up and getting their degrees. Some follow through with it, others don't, at least not yet. When you've been out of school for a long time, she said, you have to reapply to UGA and go through a fairly lengthy process before you're actually taking classes again.
And once you're a student again, as Walsh found out, you then have to do classwork again. The statistics class was probably the biggest challenge, he said, because math has never been his strong suit, especially given all the years since he last took a math class. Embracing the challenge, he studied and worked at it until he was "figuring it out and doing it the right way."
One motivating factor for Walsh, he said, was his family.
"I come from a very well-educated family and I was tired of being the guy that didn't have the degree in my family," he said. "Through the support of my mom, dad, brother and sister, it was kind of like a group 'let's get it done.'"
Verron Haynes, the running back who famously caught the winning touchdown pass at Tennessee in 2001 on the legendary "Hobnail Boot" play, earned his degree back in 2016. Shedrick Wynn, a defensive end that last played for Georgia in 2002, earned his degree in May, at the same time his oldest son was graduating from Cedar Shoals High School here in Athens. Hall of Fame kicker Kevin Butler, who played from 1981-84, came back to school in 2016 and served as an undergraduate assistant coach before earning his degree in 2018.
These types of stories, and there are a lot of them, always make Horvat proud.
"It's very rewarding to work with the older ones," she said. "Most of them make really good grades because they're so into it and they want to prove something and they just take more pride in it, I think, at that point, because it's something they want to get done."
"I think the cool thing about Georgia is, and I know this is not the case everywhere, and I know Coach (Kirby) Smart is like this as well, and obviously Coach Richt was too, they really want you to graduate and they do everything in their power to provide you with people like Glada to help you have the resources to graduate," Walsh said. "I feel so fortunate to have all those people in my life that helped me get there."
Walsh is the latest to get there, to finish what he started, and if he doesn't get another shot at the NFL, he's now got his degree in hand as he moves on to life after football.
"The nice thing about being able to complete your degree online is that you can still train and focus on being physically ready to play if a team wants to bring you in," he said. "Part of the idea of getting the degree was there are some business opportunities that I want to explore, and having that degree is a huge prerequisite to pretty much do anything."
Staff Writer
Blair Walsh took his first class at Georgia in the fall of 2008, right as he was beginning a fantastic kicking career for the Bulldogs that would end four years later with 412 total points, which ranks second in SEC history.
At the beginning of August, from his home in Newport Beach, Calif., Walsh, now a mature 30-year-old ready to prepare for the future while still training for the present, finished up his final four classes and earned his degree.
"It's only been a 12-year process, and I guess as my head coach said, I actually, finally, finished the drill, so I appreciated that sentiment from Coach (Mark) Richt," Walsh said. "I say that jokingly but he absolutely instilled that in us. For me, my path was a little bit different. ... It's something that I definitely did want to 'Finish The Drill' on, and finish strong."
Walsh said he earned all As in his four summer classes, which were two for his major in Communication Studies, a statistics class and a marine biology lab. All the classes were, of course, taken online because of the coronavirus pandemic, and living in a place like Newport Beach helped with the lab class.
"It ended up being more of analyzing data sets and observations that you could do out on your own," Walsh said of the lab class. "Thankfully, I live near the ocean so I was able to do some of the required exercises pretty easily. It wasn't the in-the-lab, old school chemistry stuff, it was more observation and data-based."
Following his final season at Georgia, in 2011, Walsh left school one semester short of graduating so that he could prepare for the NFL Combine and focus all his energy on playing professionally. Selected in the sixth round of the 2012 draft by the Minnesota Vikings, that work immediately paid off with a spectacular rookie season that included going 10-for-10 on field-goal attempts of 50 yards or more and ended with his being selected first-team All-Pro and chosen for the Pro Bowl.
Finishing his degree wasn't really on his mind at that point, but over time it popped up again and again.
"I dabbled in it, but I didn't do the full prep until the whole quarantine thing started and this unfortunate pandemic happened," Walsh said.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Glada Horvat, in charge of academics and eligibility, said she would hear from Walsh from time to time over the years and would send him the information on what classes he needed to finish for his degree. After the pandemic hit and we all were mostly stuck at home, Walsh reached out again and was all in this time.
"I did a lot of the legwork, helping him get it going, but he did awesome once he was in the classes," said Horvat, who has worked in the UGA athletic department for more than 35 years.
Walsh was very quick to give credit to Horvat for helping him get his diploma.
"I'm sure you know this, but Glada being there for 35 years like she has, she is truly the best. ... We kind of got together and were like, we need to finish this and get your degree from Georgia," Walsh said. "She got the ball rolling and helped me go down that path. I am eternally grateful for her expertise in her field."
Every year, Horvat hears from former Bulldogs, from numerous sports, who are thinking about finally finishing up and getting their degrees. Some follow through with it, others don't, at least not yet. When you've been out of school for a long time, she said, you have to reapply to UGA and go through a fairly lengthy process before you're actually taking classes again.
And once you're a student again, as Walsh found out, you then have to do classwork again. The statistics class was probably the biggest challenge, he said, because math has never been his strong suit, especially given all the years since he last took a math class. Embracing the challenge, he studied and worked at it until he was "figuring it out and doing it the right way."
One motivating factor for Walsh, he said, was his family.
"I come from a very well-educated family and I was tired of being the guy that didn't have the degree in my family," he said. "Through the support of my mom, dad, brother and sister, it was kind of like a group 'let's get it done.'"
Verron Haynes, the running back who famously caught the winning touchdown pass at Tennessee in 2001 on the legendary "Hobnail Boot" play, earned his degree back in 2016. Shedrick Wynn, a defensive end that last played for Georgia in 2002, earned his degree in May, at the same time his oldest son was graduating from Cedar Shoals High School here in Athens. Hall of Fame kicker Kevin Butler, who played from 1981-84, came back to school in 2016 and served as an undergraduate assistant coach before earning his degree in 2018.
These types of stories, and there are a lot of them, always make Horvat proud.
"It's very rewarding to work with the older ones," she said. "Most of them make really good grades because they're so into it and they want to prove something and they just take more pride in it, I think, at that point, because it's something they want to get done."
"I think the cool thing about Georgia is, and I know this is not the case everywhere, and I know Coach (Kirby) Smart is like this as well, and obviously Coach Richt was too, they really want you to graduate and they do everything in their power to provide you with people like Glada to help you have the resources to graduate," Walsh said. "I feel so fortunate to have all those people in my life that helped me get there."
Walsh is the latest to get there, to finish what he started, and if he doesn't get another shot at the NFL, he's now got his degree in hand as he moves on to life after football.
"The nice thing about being able to complete your degree online is that you can still train and focus on being physically ready to play if a team wants to bring you in," he said. "Part of the idea of getting the degree was there are some business opportunities that I want to explore, and having that degree is a huge prerequisite to pretty much do anything."
Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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