UGA Star Smith's Stolen Gear Recovered: Police

ATHENS, GA — Gear stolen from former Georgia Bulldogs football star Roquan Smith — including his UGA helmet and jerseys he wore in the 2017 Rose Bowl and National Championship Game — has been recovered, according to police.

Police say the items, including an iPad owned by his new team, the Chicago Bears, were stolen from his car in Athens over the weekend. Detectives reportedly were able to trace a fingerprint left on his car to a UGA student from Summerville.

Summerville is about 90 miles northwest of Atlanta, near the Georgia-Alabama state line.

Everything that was stolen has been recovered except for the iPad, said Athens-Clarke County Police spokesman Epifanio Rodriguez. He said some of the items were found in Athens and that the suspect led them to the rest of the items in Summerville.

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Police have not publicly identified the student, who they say confessed to stealing Smith's belongings. They say they retrieved Smith's property on Tuesday night.

According to an Athens-Clarke County Police Department report, the items stolen from Smith's car some time between 5 p.m. Friday and 11:30 a.m. on Saturday included:

• Smith's 2017 UGA football helmet
• his 2017 UGA football jersey
• his jersey worn in the 2017 Rose Bowl
• his jersey worn in the 2017 National Championship Game
• an iPad belonging to the Chicago Bears
• a UGA "Athlete of the Year" trophy
• four pairs of headphones
• two watches
• a Bluetooth speaker
• sunglasses
• Nike athletic shoes

Police were called at 11:46 a.m. Saturday. According to ACC Police, Smith's car had been parked in a parking garage at The Mark apartments on Oconee Street.

There was no sign of forced entry into Smith's car, police said. He told them he was sure he had locked it, but that he had gone outside to a friend's car late Friday night and could possibly have accidentally unlocked it then.

According to the police report, it's "possible those jerseys are worth up to $40,000 a piece due to Mr. Smith's clout at UGA and soon in the NFL." He told officers the items had great sentimental value and were "priceless" to him.

After helping lead the Bulldogs' to a 13-2 record and the national-title game as a junior, Smith announced in January that he would leave UGA early and declared himself eligible for the NFL Draft. As expected, he was a first-round pick and became the draft's first linebacker off the board when the Bears selected him at No. 8 on April 26.

With tremendous sideline-to-sideline speed, Smith tallied 137 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 2017. He won the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top linebacker, and was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year. In the Rose Bowl and National Championship Game, he racked up another 24 tackles.

Photo via GeorgiaDogs.com