Linebacker C.J. Washington Removed From Georgia's Roster

C.J. Washington enrolled early at Georgia more than a year ago as a highly-rated four-star inside linebacker with a bright future before a neck injury suffered during one of Georgia’s 2022 spring practices put his football career in jeopardy. As first reported by Jordan Hill of Dawgs247, Washington’s name has been removed from Georgia’s official post-spring roster, the clearest sign to date that Washington’s playing career at Georgia is over.

While definitive word on Washington’s long-term football career and status with the Georgia program has yet to be released, Georgia head coach Kirby Smart made several allusions to the severity of his injury during the 2022 football season.

At SEC Media Days in July, Smart offered his first update on Washington’s recovery and status since the injury occurred during spring practice.

“CJ’s continuing to get medical eval-ed. It’s been a tough, slow process. It’s not something that you rush. I don’t know the outcome of that yet. We’ve had several specialists look at it. He’s recovering. He has shown improvement. The X-rays have shown improvement. He has complete stability, he’s able to go to class, he’s out of the neck brace, but I don’t know when he’s going to be able to return. That’s not something we want to rush.”

Several months later, in September, Smart’s comments on Washington’s injury grew more foreboding.

“He’s been here with us — he was here today. So, we get to see CJ from time to time,” Smart revealed to reporters. “It’s really been a struggle for him because football meant so much for him and to him. And we still haven’t given up hope that he can come back, but we're certainly going to take all the precautions necessary before we do bring him back.”

One month later, in October, Smart again offered comments that hinted at the severity of Washington’s neck injury and the possibility that his playing career may be over.

“Yeah, we’ve seen CJ from time to time, and it’s been really tough on him,” said Smart. “He’s, you know, as any kid would be, he’s a freshman in college, and he got football taken away from him, for right now. It’s been pretty emotional for him. It’s been a tough road, and we continue to try to help and support him as best we can.”

The former Cedartown High School star was ranked the No.135 player overall and the No.11 linebacker in the 2022 class. Washington was a two-way star at Cedartown, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns and posting 42 tackles and 7 sacks during a senior season in 2021 in which he led his team to the GHSA Class 4a semifinals. On the back of that impressive senior season, Washington was selected to play in the prestigious Under Armour All-American game.