ATHENS, Ga. — After two national championships and eight years, Georgia is ushering in a new era for its English Bulldog mascot: Uga XI is being anointed on Saturday.
Uga X, otherwise known as Que, is retiring as the official mascot. Que took over the role in 2015 when he was two-and-a-half years old and served in the role as the Kirby Smart era began. The Bulldogs went 91-18 during Uga X’s reign.
The new Uga will be Boom, a 10-month-old English Bulldog who will be collared, as the school calls it, before Saturday’s G-Day game. The ceremony will take place at around 3:50 p.m. ET at the 20-yard line, in the northeast corner of Sanford Stadium.
Welcome, Boom!
We can't wait to have you on the sidelines as Uga XI!
Join us at approximately 3:50pm this Saturday at G-Day for his collaring ceremony.
Read More:https://t.co/S0SaOurxcm pic.twitter.com/jvhVFiCzhK
— Georgia Bulldogs (@UGAAthletics) April 11, 2023
The Uga line has been maintained by the Seiler family since 1955. The stoic dog has gained fame over the years, featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated during the 1990s, when Uga was proclaimed the best mascot in college football. Uga also appeared in the movie “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil,” set and filmed in Savannah. (And the lawyer for Jim Williams, the man charged with murder in the book and movie, was Sonny Seiler.)
Seiler has often told the story of meeting with director Clint Eastwood, who knelt down to pat Uga on the head.
“I’m going to make you a celebrity,” Eastwood said.
Seiler replied: “Uga is already a celebrity, Mr. Eastwood.”
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(Photo: Courtesy of the University of Georgia)
