UPDATED: Bullard drafted 58th by the Packers

Published 1:44 pm Friday, April 26, 2024

Baldwin High School alum Javon Bullard’s dream of making it to the NFL has come true.

The former Baldwin Brave and University of Georgia football great was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second round with the 58th overall pick Friday. The defensive back will go from sporting a red and black power G to wearing one that’s green and gold.

“Words can’t even describe the emotions I feel right now… I’m extremely blessed and I can’t wait to get to work,” Bullard said in an introductory conference call with Green Bay media. With his name having been called Friday, Bullard is the highest drafted player to have ever come out of BHS. Linebacker Leroy Hill formerly held that distinction as he went 98th to the Seattle Seahawks in 2005. Bullard is Baldwin High’s first draftee since lineman Maurice Hurt went to Washington in the seventh round back in 2011.

Milledgeville’s newest pro football player was asked how familiar he is with his destination.

“I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t know much about Green Bay,” he said. “I’m a down south Georgia boy, but I’m looking forward to getting to know everything about Green Bay. I plan on being there for a long time.”

Here’s a short history lesson to help him and new Packer fans along. Green Bay has the National Football League’s third-oldest franchise, having joined in 1921. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls played in 1967 and 1968. For a long time now, the trophy presented to the team that wins the championship each year has been named after the man who coached GB to those titles, the legendary Vince Lombardi. The franchise has won four Super Bowls in its history with the most recent having come in 2010.

In going from UGA to Green Bay, Bullard trades one rabid fanbase for another. The northeast Wisconsin town has a population a little over 100,000. Basically all who are born there are raised to be Packer fans, and the atmosphere at historic Lambeau Field is often compared to that of major college football stadiums. Built in 1957, Lambeau seats over 80,000 people who are known to send echoes of the team’s iconic “Go, Pack, Go!” chant into the chilly northern air.

If the second-round draft pick wants to add his name to the Green Bay record books in say, the career interceptions category, he’ll have to break the mark set by Bobby Dillon, who had 52 from 1952-1959. The single-season record of 10 was set by Irv Comp in 1943.

Packers General Manager Brian Gutekunst obviously likes what he sees going on down in Athens as Bullard became his fourth Georgia defensive player selected in the last four drafts. Defensive back was one of the positions Green Bay needed filling. The team last month added top free-agent safety Xavier McKinney after not re-signing three veteran safeties, according to packers.com. It’s sort of a full-circle moment for Bullard. McKinney, formerly a New York Giant, played his college ball at Alabama. While taking a recruiting visit to Tuscaloosa, Bullard posed alongside McKinney for a photo. Now the two could line up next to each other as pros.

“It’s a huge honor to play beside such a great player,” Bullard said of McKinney, who totaled 116 tackles and three interceptions last season. “I’m looking forward to playing beside him.”

A 3-star prospect coming out of high school, Bullard enrolled at the University of Georgia in January 2021 following an outstanding senior season at Baldwin when he was named All-County Defensive Player of the Year. He saw some playing time his freshman year in Athens before really bursting onto the scene as a true sophomore in 2022, earning the starting nickel back role in Kirby Smart’s defense. Those outside of the Georgia Bulldog fandom learned Bullard’s name the night of the Chick-fil-a Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinal against Ohio State. The defensive back cleanly leveled Buckeye wide receiver and fellow 2024 draftee Marvin Harrison Jr. in the end zone, jarring the football loose on what would have been a back-breaking touchdown. The Bulldogs went on to win, and Bullard was named defensive MVP for his efforts. His hot streak continued in Los Angeles at the national championship game versus TCU when he had a record two interceptions early. Georgia went on to dismantle the Horned Frogs to hoist a second consecutive national title trophy, and Bullard was once again defensive MVP.

Entering what would be his final year playing collegiately, Bullard showed off his versatility by switching from nickel to safety in 2023. The 5-10, 198-pound defensive back totaled 56 tackles, two interceptions, and five pass break-ups in 12 starts, earning him AP All-SEC Second Team honors.

The Green Bay Packer believes that aforementioned versatility will continue serving him well.

“I don’t think, I know I can play all three positions in the secondary, what ever you need me to play,” Bullard said. “I feel like I proved my versatility throughout this process, being able to cover slot guys, being able to cover bigger tight ends, being able to get down in the box and get down and dirty with the running backs and things like that. I feel like I can play all over.”

Bullard and the Bulldogs nearly made it back to the College Football Playoff a third consecutive year this past season, but had to settle for an Orange Bowl blowout over Florida State. He left Athens a two-time national champion. In over 130 years of program history, only those players on the 2021 and ’22 rosters can boast having multiple football national titles to their name.