“I had to thank God,” he said in his postgame press conference. “Without Him, none of this would have been possible. Every step of the way, I thanked Him for putting me in this position, putting my team in this position, and I just thank Him for everything.”
Throughout his time at Georgia, Dean has thanked and praised God.
Much of Dean’s values were instilled by his mother, Neketta, who served for many years as a director of community affairs for the Tunica County sheriff’s department near his hometown of Horn Lake, Mississippi. To nearly every community event she worked, she brought her kids. “They were community service kids,” she recently told ESPN.
With serving others being a regular occurrence during his childhood, Dean continued serving others even when the NCAA’s new name/image/likeness deals allowed him to earn money.
“When NIL deals started rolling in, my priorities were having them still let me focus on football and whether there was a way to give through the deals,” Dean told ESPN, which highlighted him sponsoring a bed at an Athens, Georgia, homeless shelter, and working with the Boys and Girls Club.
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As a five-star recruit considered by many to be the nation’s top insider linebacker prospect when he was coming out of Horns Lake, Dean had numerous scholarship offers from the top programs in the country. He and his mother praised God for being in such a situation.
“We’re constantly reminding each other every day that this is all just a blessing from God,” Neketta told Dawg Nation in 2018. “We just want to walk through these good things that God has provided for us and we’re not going to do it with any pride or boasting or those things. We take a humble approach and we are thankful to have any invites to go play anywhere.”
He ended up choosing Georgia, and now has a national title to add to his accolades. After Georgia won its national semifinal matchup over Michigan to advance to the national title game, Dean was asked what it would be like for a boy from Horn Lake to play for a national championship.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “It’s a blessing that I’m in this position.”
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