Georgia football player Kelton Smith retires after medical disqualification
Georgia Bulldogs offensive lineman Kelton Smith has medically retired from playing football just a month before the start of the 2024 season, according to Dawgs Daily. On3 first reported the news.
Smith is taking a medical disqualification and will leave the sport after it was expected he would take part in what would have been his second season with Georgia football.
Exact details around the nature of Smith's apparent issues are not known, but reporting indicates the player has been dealing with "multiple issues."
Smith had been working this preseason to provide extra depth at the offensive guard position, but he watched the Bulldogs take part in the G-Day Scrimmage from the sideline.
The Carver-Columbus (Ga.) product committed to Georgia in the summer of 2022, choosing the Bulldogs over SEC finalists like LSU, Florida, and Texas A&M, in addition to Florida State.
Smith was rated as the No. 13 interior offensive lineman and the No. 187 overall prospect nationally, according to an average of the four national recruiting services.
His departure means that Georgia has lost two of its five offensive linemen from the 2023 class. Smith joins three-star guard Joshua Miller, who transferred to Syracuse, in leaving the program.
And he's the second Georgia football player to medically retire from the game this offseason, after former Bulldogs tight end Pearce Spurlin did so due to a congenital heart ailment.
(Report)
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JAMES PARKS
James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.