Georgia offensive lineman to retire from football for medical reasons

Offensive lineman Sam Madden is applying for a medical disqualification and won't continue his football career at Georgia, head coach Kirby Smart announced Saturday.

Madden came to Georgia in 2015 as a three-star prospect, according to the 247Sports.com composite rankings. Madden had yet to participate during practices to start the spring.

Madden never saw the field during his three years with the Georgia program and was with the scout team throughout. A native of Barnegat, New Jersey, Madden was passed over by two consecutive recruiting classes following Smart’s hiring.

"Sam’s been dealing with a medical issue," Smart said. "We feel it’s in his best interest from a medical standpoint to no longer play football. His health and safety is our greatest concern. We’re applying for a medical exemption. He’ll continue to be with the team, work with the team, whether it’s in the weight room, the video staff, he’ll help us in other ways. He’s done a tremendous job since being here."

This decision with Madden moves Georgia’s scholarship count, including the recruits who have yet to enroll, to 88. By the time everyone is on campus, the Bulldogs will need to be at 85 scholarships in order to field a team per NCAA rules.

Madden is the second player to leave the program this offseason due to medical reasons this offseason. Georgia also lost safety Rashad Roundtree retired due to numerous concussions. Roundtree has remained with the Bulldogs but has been a student assistant.

Roundtree is still with the program and is able to stay enrolled with the university under his scholarship. But since he received a medical disqualification, he will not count toward the 85 limit.

As far as Saturday's practice was concerned, Smart was pleased with what he saw with his players putting on pads for the first time this spring. He described it as a much better performance from the defense compared to where it started last offseason. Of course, last spring, Georgia was without Roquan Smith and Trenton Thompson at practice due to injuries. So there were issues that were magnified then compared to now.

Smart said the defense, which lost eight major contributors, is off to a good start thus far.

"It was a little chippy out there and guys were hitting," Smart said. "I thought the defense, actually, the first day (in pads), was better than the first day last year. I know y’all still don’t believe me but the first day last year was, I don’t know the right word – horrible, maybe, for the defense."

That was a theme for the defense last spring, that it wasn't matching the offense's physicality in practice. Considering Georgia is coming off of a season in which it finished sixth in the nation in total defense at 294.9 yards per game.

With the first week in the books, Smart is of the impression that his team is off to a good start.

“We had three good days. I thought the guys had a lot of good energy out there at practice, a lot of enthusiasm," Smart said. "I felt today was the best, obviously, because we had pads. We had a good audience out there with a lot of prospects. We’re excited about the progress we’ve made. We have a long way to go."

This story was originally published March 24, 2018 at 3:19 PM with the headline "Georgia offensive lineman to retire from football for medical reasons."