13 Things That Have Happened Since Stetson Bennett Walked on at Georgia

On Jan. 9, Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett will try to lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back national championship wins. At 25, Bennett is one of the older—but not the oldest—FBS quarterbacks. (His opponent Monday, TCU’s QB Max Duggan, is 21.)

Bennett first arrived in Athens, Ga., in 2017, walked-on to the football team and then redshirted, before transferring out to Jones County Junior College. He made his return to the Bulldogs in 2019 and emerged as their starter in 2021, leading the team to its third claimed national title (Georgia has four more unclaimed). As the trajectory of Bennett’s career has changed over the years, so has the world around him; in honor of No. 13’s underdog success, we’ve compiled 13 significant things that have happened since Bennett’s storied career began.

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1. Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield won the Heisman Trophy; since getting drafted in 2018, he’s played for three different NFL teams.
2. Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton said, “It’s funny to hear a female talk about routes” in response to a question asked during a press conference. He later apologized.
3. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle went through a royal whirlwind. The couple announced their engagement in 2017, married in 2018 and then separated from Britain’s royal family in 2020.
4. Turkish chef Nusret Gökçe took over the Internet as “Salt Bae.”
5. Sixty-six other quarterbacks were drafted and made their NFL debuts, including: Patrick Mahomes, Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson and Brock Purdy.
6. Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” became the longest charting song on the Billboard Hot 100 with a record-breaking 19 weeks at No. 1. Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” ended its reign.
7. A picture of an egg became the most liked photo on Instagram. Three years later, it was finally topped—by a post from Lionel Messi celebrating Argentina’s 2022 FIFA World Cup victory.
8. The Jonas Brothers reunited following an official break-up in 2013. They also released an album and went on tour.
9. The eighth and final season of HBO’s Game of Thrones debuted. The series premiere for House of the Dragon, a prequel to the hit show, aired over three years later.
10. Three Olympic games were played, in PyeongChang, Tokyo and Beijing. Two of those were in back-to-back years after the 2020 Olympics were postponed due to COVID-19.
11. The Mandalorian aired on Disney+, officially introducing the world to Baby Yoda.
12. Tom Brady won two more Super Bowls ... with two different teams. His seven Super Bowl rings are the most in the league.
13. Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars.