Kirby Smart talked to the media after day four of practice on Tuesday afternoon. The head coach has gotten a lot of attention from his “pressure is a privilege” statement at SEC Media Days. Georgia isn’t the only one that’s using that as motivation as celebrities have begun to use it too. Smart tells the media where he got the saying Tuesday afternoon. 
The origin of ‘pressure is privilege’ comes from tennis superstar Billy Jean King. Smart goes on to say that he got it from when King told Maria Sharapova that years ago and they made the players watch a video on it.
“I probably should’ve given her credit at the SEC Media Days, but I wasn’t thinking about it then. It’s certainly a great statement and it’s so true that it really is a privilege,” Smart says. “She told [Maria] Sharapova that and we even showed the players a tape of that and that message is always there so you can choose to be one of two things: you can say you’re the underdog or you can say that being good under pressure is a privilege, and it really is a privilege and I would much rather be in that situation.’’
Since Smart used the saying at SEC Media Days some celebrities started to use it as well. NASCAR driver, Chase Elliot mentioned Smart and the quote during an interview after his first NASCAR win. Smart weighed on what it meant to him that others use the saying because of him.
‘’I think it’s pretty cool. He’s been to some events and he’s been to some of our games. I actually have plans to reach out to him and thank him for sharing our message and being a Dawg fan,” Smart comments. “We sent him a jersey last year and I’m fired up to see his career. He’s had a lot of close, close finishes and now for him to push it over the top, that’s what we’re trying to do as well.’’