ATHENS, Ga. — John Staton had a feeling, partly out of hope, partly out of despondency, and mostly out of ambition. So he first looked up the date on his phone—college football playoff championship games to come—then scrolled down his iPhone calendar, two years ahead, and typed it in:
January 10, 2022: Georgian National Championship.
That was before Staton even knew he was going to be on the Georgia football team, let alone play that game, let alone end up hugging Stetson Bennett, with whom he had so much in common. But had Staton known more, he would have written this six days after that game:
Start working on something that could propel Georgia into the new age of collegiate athletics.
Georgia now officially joins the NIL collectives arms race with the formation of the Classic City Collective (CCC). Matt Hibbs, who worked in Georgia’s athletic department until last year, is the CEO and Staton, who has quietly told one of the most remarkable stories about Georgia’s national championship team, is the operations manager.
