New Georgia DT apologizes for racially-insensitive comment

Jamaal Jarrett, a four-star Georgia freshman, released an apology as he tries to make amends for a racial-insensitive comment he made on NFL Draft night.

While the focus of the NFL Draft from a Georgia football perspective was firmly on the influx of Bulldogs to their new teams, mostly the Eagles.

Sadly, that wasn’t the only storyline to come out of the draft for the team from Athens. A Geogia early enrollee, Jamaal Jarrett, had an ugly misstep on draft night. During an Instagram Live, he made racial-insensitive remarks as the Falcons made their first round pick.

Atlanta had representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters Kansas City on stage to announce the No. 8 pick. One of them was Asian and Jarrett called attention to that, using harmful language, while imploring the Falcons to pick Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter.

There’s no defending Jarrett’s comments, which were immature and unacceptable.

Georgia DT issues statement apologizing for racially insensitive remarks

Jarrett has finally spoken publicly about the incident, releasing a statement almost a week after the draft to address his words.

Here’s the text of Jarrett’s statement:

"“Recently I made racially insensitive remarks on my social media platform. I feel ashamed by my actions that have caused tremendous hurt and pain, especially to those in the AAPI community, and I truly do apologize. I did not mean any hate or harm towards anyone.Over the past several days I have learned more about the AAPI community and the increased hate crimes that have been directed towards members of the community. I have come to understand more clearly where I messed up and why this behavior was wrong. The type of language I used is harmful, and there is no place for it anywhere.I want to grow from this situation and make a more positive impact in the community. I am committed to representing myself better and showing that I am not the kind of person to make hurtful remarks. I cannot change the mistake that I made, but I can control what I do and say in the future and use this as an opportunity for growth.As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, I plan to continue learning and talking with students and others on our campus and in Athens to learn how I can support the AAPI community. I promise I will learn from this mistake and do better.”"

Good on Jarrett for addressing the situation, acknowledging his harm and looking to move on with further support for the Asain American and Pacific Islander community.

Jarrett ranked No. 95 in the class of 2023 and joined the Bulldogs as an early enrollee for spring football earlier this year.

It’s unfortunate that the first big headlines of his college career were because of insensitive statements he made on social media, but at least he has taken steps to apologize and can now work on living up to a higher standard both on and off the field.

For more College Football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.