SEC Media Days: Stetson Bennett talks about flying high in the sky with Blue Angels
SEC Media Days: Stetson Bennett talks about flying high in the sky with Blue Angels
Bennett got to soar high above the clouds back in April...
ATLANTA, GA. — Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett has been living life to the fullest for the past six months.
He’s gotten to experience more than most since helping lead the Bulldogs to a national title on Jan. 10. One of the ‘coolest’ things he’s done was getting to fly in the cockpit of a F/A-18 Blue Angel jet during the Vidalia Onion Festival's air show this past April.
Bennett was asked about the experience on Wednesday at SEC Media Days and his face lit up.
“Yeah, that was the coolest thing I have ever done, and probably ever will do,” he said. “If you get a chance, do it.”
Bennett, who is from nearby Pierce County, received a text message from an old friend and teammate about the opportunity to fly above the clouds with the Blue Angels.
“It was so random. It was my freshman year roommate, Nate McBride. It was his mom (that arranged it),” he said. “He texted me. He’s from Vidalia. He (also) texted my mom and said the Blue Angels wanted to do something (with me). They were thinking about that since I was from Blackshear, which is real close to Vidalia, if I would want to fly with them (the Blue Angels).”
Bennett’s mom ran the idea by him and he responded, “Yeah, I would love to do that.”
“It was so cool,” he added.
The Nahunta, Ga., native then rode with Blue Angel pilot Lt. Griffin Stangel during the air show.
“They started off slow, (especially) because they don’t want to make you pass out,” Bennett said. “I was nervous about passing out or throwing up. I didn’t want to embarrass myself.”
Bennett has played at the highest level of college football and has shown no fear on the field; however, he was a little nervous at first, but quickly overcame those initial fears.
“We flew for 45 minutes,” Bennett said. “Towards the end, he (Lt. Griffin) looked at me and said through the intercom, ‘Alright, we are going to hit as many Gs as this plane can pull and get as close to the speed of sound as we can.’ And so we hit it. We hit 7.4 Gs.”
Per Bennett, Lt. Griff let out a ‘woo’ in excitement as they glided through the south Georgia sky. It was a moment that Bennett would remember for the rest of his life. He compared it to the night of Jan. 10 following the Bulldogs’ 33-18 victory over the Crimson Tide.
“It was exciting,” he said. “I was fired up. I’ve never felt anything like it.”
Bennett said ‘immediately’ after flying, he went home and watched Tom Cruise’s “Top Gun: Maverick” movie.
