Tailgating a tasty Southern tradition

It all starts with the love of college football and, in my case, a love of the Georgia Bulldogs.

I remember as a youngster grabbing a blanket on the railroad tracks to watch the Dawgs play at Sanford Stadium in the early 1970s.

Once I had season tickets, it was on. I just loved being between the hedges to watch the Dawgs. 

My game-day tradition starts at sunrise. We grab our tent, chairs, tables and tailgate spot, talk football and fire up the grill for a full day with friends who share my passion for UGA football before heading into the stadium for kickoff. Who couldn’t love that?

You can’t tailgate without good, old slow-smoked southern BBQ, and I soaked up as much knowledge as I could to perfect the “art” of barbecuing.

I had help from friends like Jake Fincher, the third-generation owner of Fincher’s BBQ. Also, Lonnie Smith with Bubba Grills took me under his wing and shared his techniques for the perfect smoked butt and ribs while building me my first smoker.

I took my grandmother’s world-famous Brunswick Stew recipe — well, maybe not world famous but definitely “slap yo mama good” — as well as many amazing recipes over the last 40-plus years to try and improve each tailgate.

Lifelong friendships and bonds are my most cherished memories of years of tailgating. Whether we are in Athens, Jacksonville or Baton Rouge, each game has a special tailgate theme — from “gator tail” to “Gamecock chicken” or just good old smoked BBQ.

Jim Cole took over the athletic director position for Mercer University Athletics and, along with President William Underwood, built an amazing athletic program, bringing back football and putting Mercer on the map as not only an elite academic school but one with an elite athletic program.

I grilled for Jim’s political campaign fundraisers before he came to Mercer, and he told me I would be the cook for Mercer Athletics. While I’ve enjoyed UGA tailgating, Mercer tailgating also means a lot to me. Mercer — with coaches like Bobby Lamb, Drew Cronic and Mike Jacobs — just feels like a family.

Cooking for these coaches and meeting them and their players has been a great experience.

Mercer just does it better. We were there when Coach Bob Hoffman’s Mercer team knocked off the Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament, and we were there to see Coach Susie Gardner’s multiple women’s basketball championships.

Being a grillmaster or tailgate fanatic has given me so much joy over the years — and I love it as much today at 69 going on 70 as I did in my younger days.

So, I’m hungry; let’s fire up the grill!

Bulldawg Gameday Brunswick Stew

— 6 cans of cream corn.

— 4 cans of Le Sueur peas, drained.

— 12 cans of diced tomatoes.

— 2 bottles of ketchup.

— 2 onions, cut fine.

— 1 bottle hot sauce (minimum).

— One-fourth cup of brown sugar.

— 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.

— One-half gallon to 1 gallon of chicken broth.

— Smoked, grilled meat: 3 pounds pork butt, 3 pounds chicken, 1 pound pork sausage, 1 pound ground beef.

— Herbs; salt and pepper to taste.

— Add, if you like, vegetables (mushrooms, okra, etc.).

Bulldawg Caviar

— 2 15-ounce cans of black-eyed peas, drained.

— 1 15-ounce can whole shoepeg corn, drained.

— 1 10-ounce can of Rotel tomatoes.

— 2 cups of chopped red bell peppers (orange if for Mercer).

— One-half cup of fresh jalapeno peppers.

— One-half cup of chopped red onion or sweet onion.

— 1 8-ounce bottle of Newman’s country-style Italian dressing.

— 1 4-ounce jar of chopped pimentos, drained.

Mix and refrigerate.