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An afternoon of bad weather across Georgia couldn’t come close to dampening the spirits of the Peach State’s prep football stars with Wednesday marking the end of tough decisions as it was finally …

Time to sign

• Bainbridge’s Nick Williams, Seminole’s Bacarri Rambo sign to play for Georgia

Danny Aller

Between Decatur and Seminole counties Wednesday, the University of Georgia struck gold.

Nick Williams, a QB/LB from Bainbridge, along with friend and soon-to-be new teammate — all-everything Bacarri Rambo of Donalsonville — both signed their national letters-of-intent to play for the Bulldogs.

And while each handled their business at separate ceremonies, that didn’t mean they weren’t thinking about their immediate future together in Athens.

After all, the duo will be roommates.

“Nick, yeah, that’s my buddy — I can’t wait to see him at Georgia,” said the 6-foot, 190-pound Rambo, who gave UGA a what’s called a “soft commitment,” his junior season after a visit to Georgia’s campus, even though attempts were continually made to persuade him to change that choice by the likes of Florida State, Maryland, N.C. State, Duke, Alabama and Georgia Tech.

“(Nick’s) a great player and it’s going to be nice to have someone else (from Southwest Georgia) up there.”

Williams, meanwhile, committed to Georgia before the start of his senior season, saying it was something he’d dreamed of since he was little — but says the door was open for Alabama and Louisville until the very last second.

That is, until he heard Georgia coach Mark Richt’s voice just a few hours after leaving a camp that Richt attended over the summer in Alabama.

“I worked hard on both sides of the ball that day, but I'll never forget the day coach Mark Richt called me and offered me a scholarship. I was on my way back home (from that camp) and I just couldn’t believe it — I had to pull over for like 15 minutes,” said the 6-4, 225-pound Williams, who hopes to play outside linebacker for the Bulldogs. “It'd always been a dream of mine to play for the Bulldogs, so once I heard his voice — heard him ask me — it was pretty much over."

For Rambo, however, it’s not quite clear yet where he’ll fit in at UGA, although it is known the guy his friends and family affectionately call “Goo,” (named after the TV show character Mr. Magoo) is expected to have immediate impact.

“They told Bacarri that they expect him to play pretty quickly, and that they might use him how they used (LB) Thomas Davis last year, moving him around the field to different positions — because he can basically play them all,” said Danny Rambo, Bacarri’s father who was on hand at the signing and beaming all afternoon. “But I’ll tell you what, the first time I see him on the field (at Sanford Stadium), you better just go ahead and get me a box of Kleenex. It’s a moment I hoped to have myself, but because I couldn’t and now Bacarri is, it’s like living the dream through him and we all just feel so blessed.”

But Rambo’s decision to go to Georgia may not have even happened had it not been for Seminole coach Alan Ingram’s prodding of UGA offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who along with Richt, admittedly knew nothing about the Indians star until Ingram forced the issue.

“I said to Mike after a clinic on time, ‘When you gonna come down (to Seminole) and see my guy?’ ” Ingram said he asked Bobo. “And Mike said, ‘Who ya got?’ So I sent him down a town, and within days — I’m serious — they called. So I told Bacarri to go by there after a camp his junior year — and I think he knew what he wanted to do as soon as he got there.”

That he did.

"I think I always knew I wanted to go to Georgia. There were others in the running, but I really liked them from the moment I set foot on campus," said Rambo, who made his commitment after a stellar junior season. And despite a torn MCL in the second game of his senior season against Westover (which he played with the rest of the year) that limited his numbers in his final season, UGA stuck by Rambo.

FSU was the only school that nearly stole away Rambo — who finished his career at Seminole with a staggering 81 TDs and more than 3,000 rushing yards — but the Indians senior said “there was too much (negative stuff) going on down there right now,” and maintained his focus on UGA.

Added Ingram about the decision to stay loyal to the Bulldogs: “He was basically

living off his junior accomplishments — but that was more than enough.”

For Williams, who plays both ways, the situation was nearly the opposite.

The Bainbridge star’s stock was on the rise from his junior year on — and it only kept rising when Williams helped lead the Bearcats to the GHSA Class AAAA state quarterfinals.

“Nick has the ability to (play either way). With kids like him, it depends on whether they are going to grow up or stay where they are,” Richt said Wednesday. “He is one that is hard to predict exactly where they are.

We just want him to start, number one, where he is most comfortable and where he will have a possibility to play and make an impact. There are two or three a class where until they get in and start to lift and run and eat, you wait and see where their bodies go."

Wednesday also marked a day of reckoning for not only Williams, but for all those who helped him get there.

“This is a proud moment and it means a lot to see someone who I tried to have a positive impact on turn out like this,” said Derik McDowell, Williams’ YMCA Pee-Wee football coach who was on hand to watch Williams sign. “I knew he was something special from the first time I saw him because he was 6 or 7 and he came out to play in the league with kids who were all older, bigger and faster than him. But nobody tried harder than Nick, and he was always the smartest kid. I remember one game where we were playing an undefeated team and he made a game-saving tackle to help us win. The entire team rallied around him. Here he was, the smallest guy, but he had the biggest heart — and still does.”

Williams’ grandfather, Percy Williams Sr., along with Williams’ father, Percy Williams Jr., also attended as Sr. joked with his grandson about how “they didn’t do this back in my day — but this sure is great!” — while father stood by with a smile so wide one would’ve thought he was going to Athens on a football scholarship.

“It’s something he’s always wanted and it just makes me so proud to see him finally get it after so much hard work,” a choked up Williams Jr. said.

“The important thing for me is that he’s not only going to get an education, but he’s going to do it at a tough, tough academic school like Georgia where they’ll set the standard high, stay on top of him and make sure he does what he’s supposed to. And if he can do something to help the team win, well then that just makes everything that much more exciting for us.”

Williams, who had three interceptions and 38 tackles on defense and had 537 yards rushing and 997 yards passing on offense, said he hopes to red shirt his first season in order to have a chance to get stronger and learn the playbook.

But that doesn’t mean he’s not thinking about that very first snap he’ll take while wearing the Georgia red.

“I think about that moment all the time — morning, noon and night,” said Williams, who hopes to major in criminal justice, one day becoming a U.S. Marshall like his uncle. “I can’t wait to see how it feels, hit someone, get hit, all that. Although, as soon as I get there, I think I’m just wanna move my stuff in and take a nap.”

Not Rambo.

The probable sports management major (maybe math, he says) at UGA feels it’s going to be hard to hold him back once he gets on campus.

“Me and Nick are gonna have enjoy life up there, for sure,” Rambo said. “I’ve always wanted to go my homestate’s college, and now I am. It’s time to have fun.”

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