ATHENS — Bacarri Rambo, who was an All-American safety at Georgia and the program’s career co-leader in interceptions, is joining the team’s football staff.
Rambo is an intern this spring with the aim of becoming a graduate assistant, coach Kirby Smart said on Saturday.
“We hope for him to be a GA eventually, whenever the time’s right. But right now he’s just an intern,” Smart said.
Rambo finished his NFL career with the Buffalo Bills in the 2017 preseason, after being drafted by the Washington Redskins in the sixth round of the 2013 draft. Rambo played with the Miami Dolphins in 2016, and spent the prior four years with the Bills and Redskins. He finished his career with 16 starts, 151 tackles and 4 interceptions.
A four-year player at Georgia, Rambo finished with 16 career interceptions, tied with Jake Scott. They were joined in first place this past season by Dominick Sanders.
Rambo was known as both a hard hitter and a ballhawk at safety, starting for three seasons. He was named a first-team All-American after the 2011 season, when he was second in the country in interceptions. He attended Seminole County High School in Donalsonville, Ga.
“He’s an invaluable resource for these kids. He’s a kid who pushed through, graduated from the University of Georgia, came from down in South Georgia where a lot of our kids come from, and the experiences he’s had playing in the NFL are just unbelievable for these student-athletes,” Smart said.
At practice Saturday, Rambo was decked out in Georgia gear and standing near the defensive backs.
Georgia has used the intern tag to bring former players onto the staff in the past year: Odell Thurman, an inside linebacker in the early 2000s who went on to a brief NFL career, was an intern on the team’s strength and conditioning staff last year. (It’s not clear if Thurman is still with the program.)
Rambo is also close with Jordan Harris, the sophomore guard on the Georgia basketball team who spent the latter part of the season away from the team because of a suspension for unspecified reasons. Harris has been back with the team in offseason workouts, new coach Tom Crean said this week.