Georgia safety Jake Pope comments on the viral post-game video at Ole Miss

Reserve Georgia safety Jake Pope was caught on camera after the Ole Miss game and appeared to be celebrating with the Rebel fans. Kirby Smart I had the opportunity to speak on this topic today and condemn it quite strongly. Shortly after Smart finished speaking, Pope posted his own comment.

“I wanted to address the videos that were released after the Ole Miss game,” Pope said via various social media platforms. “First and foremost, I wanted to apologize for taking it out of perspective and causing distraction and upset for my teammates and coaches. This is in no way representative of me. There is no way I would be happy about a loss in this program, and everyone who knows me well knows that.

“My long-time family friends unexpectedly came up to me after the game as I was trying to get off the field to safety and were thrilled to see me again after the game. I was also surprised to see them and that’s why you saw the reaction I gave about the video. They are also very close to my former teammate and long-time friend on the Ole Miss team, which is why they wear these jerseys. (They also came to my games.) I’ve been Georgia through thick and thin and have never loved a group of guys more than the guys I fight with day in and day out. Finally, I want to say once again to my teammates, coaches and fans that I am sorry for how this video looked and I choose to move on and prepare for a great rest of the season with my brothers. Go buddy.

Smart was certainly not happy with the look. In his press conference on Monday, he was asked directly that he didn’t mince his words, but that the Georgia head coach was willing to move past it.

“What an idiot. Just stupid,” Smart said earlier today. “I haven’t seen it until today. He’s embarrassed. He is upset about this. This is obviously a childhood friend that they grew up playing with in Buford. I hadn’t seen him in ages. Just not really smart. But to be honest, I don’t have time to waste energy on this. Do you know what I’m saying? My focus is on Tennessee. I’m not really worried about that.”