Georgia football leader made 'one of biggest decisions of my life' while mourning teammate
For every Georgia football game during back-to-back national championships and the 9-0 start to this season, Sedrick Van Pran-Granger was the first person to touch the ball for the offense.
He’ll do it for the 40th straight start Saturday against Ole Miss in what should be his final home game.
The fourth-year junior is taking part in Senior Day ceremonies after mulling last January whether to declare for the NFL draft when he was considered among the top center prospects.
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Georgia won its second straight national title in Inglewood, Calif., on the night of Jan. 9 and flew back cross country where Van Pran-Granger and his teammates took part in a parade and celebration on Jan. 14.
Then in the early morning of Jan. 15, Bulldog offensive lineman Devin Willock and recruiting staffer Chandler LeCroy were killed in a high-speed crash. Police said LeCroy and defensive tackle Jalen Carter were street racing at more than 100 miles per hour and LeCroy had more than twice the legal limit of alcohol.
The NFL deadline for underclassmen to declare was the next day.
“That week, it was really hard for me just for the simple fact that my mind really wasn’t on the NFL,” Van Pran-Granger told the Athens Banner-Herald. “My mind was mourning the loss of Dev. It felt a little bit unfair to me that I had to deal with that situation but also make one of the biggest decisions of my life. But ultimately that’s what God called for our lives and it had to be done. Very, very tough week for sure.”
Van Pran-Granger got a three-day extension to make his decision. He chose to return to Georgia.
“For myself, it was not bringing the two together,” he said. “Not trying to make them have anything to do with each other. It was moreso dealing with Dev and then also dealing with my own life and trying to keep it separate.”
Willock remains with Van Pran-Granger still today in different ways.
He wore his No. 77 jersey for the Florida and Ball State games, a tribute that Georgia offensive lineman are doing to honor Willock’s memory for each game this season.
Van Pran-Granger also has worn a necklace with Willock’s initials against an outline of the state of New Jersey. He said he bought it from the jeweler Marc Jacobs in his hometown of New Orleans.
Van Pran-Granger was one of two Georgia players who spoke at a celebration of life for Willock in Engelwood, N.J. on Jan. 27.
“I think it’s something I still live with knowing that Devin isn’t here,” Van Pran Granger said. “It’s tough. It’s honestly tough. That was a guy, we used to go and get food together and do different things like that. That was a guy that I came in with.”
The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Van Pran-Granger was given a “starter” grade after last season by the Senior Bowl if he had come out, according to executive director Jim Nagy, a former NFL scout.
He’s listed as the No. 2 center for the 2024 draft by ESPN’s draft analysts.
The top three centers went in the second round last year.
“Teams tend to wait a little bit for centers, but I think Sedrick’s going to be in that range this year when he decides to come out,” Nagy said. “He’s proven at a really high level. What separates him from a lot of undersized centers is just play strength. The guy’s really strong, he can play squared like scouts like to talk about inside guys that can play squared and not get their edges powered through. He’s good at the second level.”
He said Van Pran-Granger has the intangibles teams look for like former Bulldog center David Andrews who has had a long NFL career.
“Sed has a love for the game like I’ve never seen from anybody before,” guard Tate Ratledge said Tuesday. “Last night we were in there watching film with him until 10 o’clock. He sits there and picks out stuff that you would never think to look at.”
Coach Kirby Smart praised Van Pran-Granger’s “character, leadership, charisma, heart. He's not afraid to speak up.”
Van Pran-Granger is an art major who this semester as a senior academically is taking the majority of his classes online.
When he was in kindergarten or first grade, he said he picked up a pair of playing cards with a picture of a clown on it. He decided to sketch what he saw.
He said his father, Sedrick Granger, called for his mother, Keon Van Pran-Wiltz, to come and watch.
“He’s showing her the card saying, ‘This is amazing,” Van Pran-Granger said.
He said his parents had him tested for “talented art,” in about the third grade and he began taking visual art classes.
In this age of NIL, Van Pran-Granger has partnered with Onward Reserve apparel for a “Hairy Dawg” T-shirt that goes for $45. Van Pran-Granger drew the image like he did when he was asked at the Peach Bowl media day last December.
“It took maybe two hours or so just to get everything down pat,” he said.
The demands of football take up a lot of his time so he says “I’m not allowed to be as creative as I may want to be, but that’s OK.”
They don’t draw many keepsakes of football centers like the Kelee Ringo pick-six against Alabama in the national championship game in the 2021 season or Jalen Carter lifting LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels with one hand in the SEC championship game in 2022.
But Van Pran-Granger is certainly valued inside the program.
“He’s our heartbeat,” wide receiver Ladd McConkey said. “He is a coach on the field. He prepares so well and he knows what everybody has to do.”
Said wide receiver Marcus Rosemy-Jacksaint: “When you think of a leader on the football team, Sed is like the first person you think of. He’s like our main, our core and our rock.”
When Missouri scored a fourth-quarter touchdown to pull within a field goal Saturday, Smart said Van Pran-Granger assured the defense not to sweat it.
“Missouri put together a really good drive, kind of drove the ball right down our throat and hit us on a lot of fast ball runs,” Smart said. “Sed was telling those guys to jog off and that we were going to be fine.”
Van Pran-Granger earlier this season said it wasn’t just him that speaks up when adversity hits.
“I think we all take turns,” Van Pran-Granger said. “I don’t want to be the guy that’s the sole leader or anything like that because that’s not true. That’s not fair to other guys that go out there and bust their butt and lead and do different things. I think we all play a part in this.”
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football glad Sedrick Van Pran-Granger returned as cornerstone
