UGA linebacker, mom share bond, faith
LOS ANGELES - She had never been on a plane before this season, but Bridget Bellamy said she knows she will have to get better at flying.
"This [was] actually her second time on a plane," explained Davin Bellamy, her son and University of Georgia linebacker. "She had kind of like a headache [Friday] and stuff. You know how it is flying across the country."
Ms. Bellamy said traveling to the Tournament of Roses is the farthest she has ever gone to see her son play football.
"I was gonna come. I was gonna come if [...] someone had to drive me. I was gonna get here," Bridget Bellamy explained. "I've only missed one game in his five-year career. I didn't plan on missing this one."
A single mom, Bellamy and her son are extremely close. The pair talks every day and exchange frequent tweets and text messages.
"If I don't hear from him, then I'm texting him, 'Oh, no love today, or what?'" Bellamy said. "Every morning I'm getting a 'Good morning, my love' text and all of that. So, we don't go back and forth a whole lot, because I know he's busy, but in the morning time I look forward to my text."
Those text messages play an even more important role on game day.
"She always sends me like a Bible verse or something like that kind of to keep my mind just, you know, simple and not with all the distractions around," said Bellamy.
Ms. Bellamy said she already has a special verse picked out to send to her son ahead of the Rose Bowl on Monday--the one she wears proudly around her neck.
"I have our Bible verse, Jeremiah 29:11--for I know the plans that I have for you," she said, showing off the engraving.
Bellamy has proved to be patient when it comes to God's plans for him. The senior decided to return for one final season at UGA instead of entering the 2017 NFL Draft.
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"When you put your personal, I would say your personal goals versus team goals and where you want to be, you know, that can kind of be hard to balance out. But you know, patience is a virtue and I told her that and I told her just hold on for one more year," Bellamy recalled.
He has, however, made some big promises to his mother once the NFL comes calling.
"I gave my mom a house book like six months ago and I told her to pick out a house in the book," said Bellamy. "I told her to send me the car she wanted and that would be the first thing I get. So, she already got a house picked out."
A special education teacher in DeKalb County for 25 years, Ms. Bellamy said her son also has plans to help her retire.
"Instead of thinking about what he's going to get for himself, [...] it's always, 'I got to take care of my mom,' and [he keeps] telling me that he want[s] me to retire or text me and say, 'aren't you glad it's your last year working?'" Ms. Bellamy explained. "Davin has seen the sacrifices that I've made and [I'm] still making and he wants me to enjoy the fruits of my labor, so to speak. But as a mom, I want Davin to prosper and be successful and him going back was a plus for me because I got to see him graduate on Dec. 15."
Bellamy graduated from the University of Georgia with a communications degree.