Athens, GA–As players and fans prepare for the start of the University of Georgia’s football season, the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library plans to revisit recent program history in a new museum exhibit “Beautiful and Brutal: Georgia Bulldogs Football, 2017.” The display will open Friday, August 30,at the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries.


This exhibit will utilize photos, textiles, and artifacts to tell the story of a team that captured the hearts of Bulldogs fans as they marched through the regular season, defeated their oldest rival to capture the SEC Championship, won an epic Rose Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners, and came to the brink of a national championship.


The story of this season will also be told through the words of UGA Athletic Association staff writer John Frierson, who co-curated this exhibit with the Hargrett Library’s UGA Athletics History Specialist Jason Hasty.


“Georgia had a great team, a very personable, mature and likable team, one that in my role as the UGA Athletic Association’s staff writer, I was able to get to know pretty well”, said Frierson.“For me, this was a team I wanted to see succeed—and reveled in its achievements—because it was comprised of people I liked, people that were easy to root for and admire.”


“This season truly captured the hearts of the Georgia people,” said Hasty. “It is also vital to remember that history isn’t something that happens only in the distant past. Our student-athletes and coaches add their own chapters to the rich history of athletics at UGA each time they step onto the field of competition.”


Fans can also kick-off their football weekends with a free tour of this exhibit at 3:00 p.m. on Fridays before each home football game this season.Jason Hasty will also bring out a selection of historic materials from the UGA Athletic Association archives for visitors to see and interact with during the tour.


“Beautiful and Brutal: Georgia Bulldogs Football, 2017” will be on display in the Rotunda Gallery of the Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries from August 30, 2019, through February 28,
2020. The exhibit is free and open to the public. For more information call 706-542-6170 or email
hasty@uga.edu.