'20 GA OL Tate Ratledge (UGA commit)

Tennessee continues to work Ratledge extremely hard and Jim Chaney will help the cause. He recruited North Georgia for the Bulldogs, giving Tennessee a nice 1-2 punch with he and Will Friend. While UGA is among the favorites here, Alabama losing Brent Key has given Tennessee another inroad with the Top 2020 OL.

vq
 
From a poster on Volquest:

Family in McMinn County Tennessee says Tate will be in Orange. His mother posted this on her Facebook:

“When Tate was nine years old he went to watch the Spring football game at Tennessee with his dad and a friend and after the game he called me to tell me all about it. This is how the conversation went: Tate, "mama if they offer me I am going to go" me, "Tate, offer you what?" Tate, (getting even more serious) "mama if they OFFER me I am going to go" me, "Tate what do you mean OFFER YOU? Offer you what?" Tate, " mama if they offer me a scholarship to play I am going to go but, if they don't and Georgia does I guess I will go to Georgia." Me, "Tate be serious son, that doesn't happen(as I am laughing because he is so convinced that it is going to happen) I tell my boy that things like that just don't happen and if he worked really hard in school he could go to Tennessee to school but football and baseball just weren't in the cards... Tate again says "mama I know I will go, I will show you!! Again, I laugh and tell my precious nine year old I love him and can't wait to hear all about his day when he gets home. Fast forward and look, my boy and his nine year old dreams are coming true visiting Tennessee with a offer. As unlikely as I always thought it would happen for my boy it is a reality! So the lesson is that dreams really can come true and for my nine year old who had NEVER even played the game until he was in middle school it is happening! #cantbelieveit #GBO #deanisonehappycamper #VFL”
 
From a poster on Volquest:

Family in McMinn County Tennessee says Tate will be in Orange. His mother posted this on her Facebook:

“When Tate was nine years old he went to watch the Spring football game at Tennessee with his dad and a friend and after the game he called me to tell me all about it. This is how the conversation went: Tate, "mama if they offer me I am going to go" me, "Tate, offer you what?" Tate, (getting even more serious) "mama if they OFFER me I am going to go" me, "Tate what do you mean OFFER YOU? Offer you what?" Tate, " mama if they offer me a scholarship to play I am going to go but, if they don't and Georgia does I guess I will go to Georgia." Me, "Tate be serious son, that doesn't happen(as I am laughing because he is so convinced that it is going to happen) I tell my boy that things like that just don't happen and if he worked really hard in school he could go to Tennessee to school but football and baseball just weren't in the cards... Tate again says "mama I know I will go, I will show you!! Again, I laugh and tell my precious nine year old I love him and can't wait to hear all about his day when he gets home. Fast forward and look, my boy and his nine year old dreams are coming true visiting Tennessee with a offer. As unlikely as I always thought it would happen for my boy it is a reality! So the lesson is that dreams really can come true and for my nine year old who had NEVER even played the game until he was in middle school it is happening! #cantbelieveit #GBO #deanisonehappycamper #VFL”
That’s a post on her Facebook from 2017. I shared it in this thread on the first page. I’ll bump it.
 
The four-star Class of 2020 offensive tackle from Darlington School in Rome, Ga., said he and his family are planning to travel to Knoxville on Saturday to attend the top-ranked Vols' home basketball game against West Virginia at Thompson-Boling Arena. But the 6-foot-6, 295-pound Ratledge said he expects to use the trip to spend at least a little bit of time with Vols coach Jeremy Pruitt's staff, too.

"I am going to a basketball game just to go," said Ratledge. "I will probably end up at the football facilities at some point." Ratledge was born in Chattanooga, Tenn., and he told GoVols247 in May that he was raised "being a Tennessee fan.” He said his grandmother "was a diehard Tennessee fan," and his father also "was raised that way" and is "still a diehard Tennessee fan."

That's why he and his father have "wanted to go" to a basketball game in Knoxville this season, he said, and this weekend happened to be open for him to make the trip. In regard to his own college decision, Ratledge said he has “kind of gotten out of” simply following Tennessee as a fan “since recruiting started.” His trip to Knoxville on Saturday will be his first visit with the Vols since June, although he remains a priority for them.

“I look at it as a business decision, kind of — like, where I would like to live without football, where I’d like to go, period,” he told GoVols247 in May. “I mean, my dad would be the happiest man ever if I went (to Tennessee). But he said he’s got his scrapbook. It’s up to me where I go. He said wherever I go, he’s going to cheer me on.”

-Callahan
 

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