Brock Bowers on his rapid rise to stardom for Georgia and settling into SEC country

More than a year and a half after he first arrived on campus, Brock Bowers is about as well known a name in Athens as anybody that currently plays for the Georgia football team and that includes one Stetson Bennett IV.

Media policies as they are under Bulldogs coach Kirby Smart, true freshmen do their talking on the football field.

So Tuesday afternoon was the first time Bowers stood before reporters and answered questions since he became a Bulldog.

Figure it will be the first of many given his star power now. Something he didn’t exactly see coming.

“I didn’t really expect much during fall camp last year, it just kind of all happened,” Bowers said. “And pretty fast, too.”

If Bowers were to replicate his freshman season output—which may be a stretch given how deep the tight end room is now and the Bulldogs aren’t guaranteed to play 15 games again—he would stand No. 2 on the program’s all-time touchdown career list behind only Terrence Edwards’ 30 who did that in four seasons.

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Bowers tied A.J. Green for most receptions ever by a Georgia freshman with 56, broke the program record with 16 touchdown catches and had the most receiving yards ever by a tight end with 882.

“I wasn’t really focused on that at the moment,” he said. “I was kind of worried about every single game. Just winning every single game and just trying to help the team as much as I could.”

“We didn't know exactly what we had with Brock,” offensive coordinator Todd Moken said. “We knew he was rare in how he worked, and how he came every day. How that developed and kept going, we just kind of fell into it. We knew he was fast once he could catch and run with it. That's different. The GPS says one thing on the field, and you think, 'We have to keep trying that.’”

Bowers did do a Q&A on zoom back in January when he was on a Football Writers Association of America presentation after being named the freshman of the year. South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was also on the video feed for sharing national first-year coach of the year and interrupted Bowers.

“My 8-year old son was just in here and said, wait a minute, he’s just a freshman?,” Beamer said. “”I thought he was a senior and gone,’ and he walked out of the room disappointed. Can we confirm he is just a freshman and have two more years of having to compete against him? In all seriousness, love watching you play. You’re a hell of a football player."

This time Bowers spoke with his hands mostly in the pocket of his shorts. It’s not every day that a former San Francisco Chronicle All-Metro first team product from Napa High is standing before more than a dozen media members, some recording his every word.

“It was a big change coming here culture-wise,” he said. “There was kind of nothing that really could have prepared me.”

He was talking about more than just football.

“Sometimes I can’t understand people, the accents,” Bowers said. “Some of the food.”

He’s roommates with linebacker Chaz Chambliss (Carrollton) and quarterback Brock Vandagriff (Bogart).

“They’re both like the most Southern accent talking dudes,” he said. “They’ve rubbed off on me a lot.”

Bowers bypassed Pac-12 schools not wanting to play near a big city like Los Angeles, San Francisco or Phoenix. He preferred the college town setting of Athens and a chance to get out to hunt and fish

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Bowers now has his own trading card. He’s pitching Zaxby’s chicken sandwiches. He’s doing ads for Associated Credit Union. Yes, NIL has been very good to him.

He stood before a backdrop with another financial institution that is a Georgia sponsor when he was asked how much of the chicken he endorses he is eating these days.

“A little bit here and there, just going out with people and just having it once in a while,” the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder  said. “Not too much though. Watching the figure.”

As for which Zaxby’s sauces he is partial to—maybe Zax sauce, Spicy Zax sauce, ranch or honey mustard—Bowers goes a different way.

“Everyone’s going to hate me for this, but I’m a ketchup guy,” Bowers said.

Given what he did last season, chances are Georgia fans are fine with whatever condiment Bowers prefers.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia football tight end Brock Bowers is a star after one season