Former NFL star Todd Gurley flew with President Trump on Air Force One and took the stage in Dalton, Georgia, as Republicans pressed voters ahead of the midterms.
Toward the end of his remarks at the Dalton rally, President Donald Trump brought former star running back Todd Gurley on stage after the two had flown together aboard Air Force One and traveled in the presidential motorcade. Breitbart News reported the appearance came on a Friday, with the midterm elections just over two weeks away.
Gurley is a Georgia product. He starred for the Georgia Bulldogs in college, then played in the NFL for the St. Louis and Los Angeles Rams and the Atlanta Falcons. Trump used the moment to walk the crowd through that résumé.
"Well, he was the NFL Rookie of the Year. He was the NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He led the NFL in rushing touchdowns, and was the youngest player in NFL history to reach 50 career touchdowns. That means he is a good player,"
Trump told the crowd.
Gurley kept it short and local. He greeted the audience with a cheer for his college team, then thanked the president and the state that made his career.
"Go Dawgs!"
He added a fuller thank-you for the trip itself.
"[I] want to thank President Trump today for the experience: being on Air Force One, welcoming me into the White House. Thank you so much. Thank you to the state of Georgia for everything y’all done to me and go Dawgs,"
Gurley said.
The rally was not a nostalgia stop. Trump used the stage to drive votes for Republican Senate candidate Mike Collins and GOP gubernatorial candidate Rick Jackson. He framed the Senate race in blunt terms against incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff.
"It’s time to fire John Ossoff and elect Mike Collins, one of the most respected men in Washington,"
Trump said, before inviting Collins up to speak.
Collins told the crowd the race was winnable if voters treated early balloting like a handoff, not a suggestion. Early voting, he said, had already started.
"Listen, this thing, this race is sitting, it’s sitting right here. It’s right here in front of us. Early voting’s already started. All we got to do is reach out and grab this, grab it and hang on,"
Collins said. He followed with the practical ask.
"And how do you do that? You go vote, and you make sure you take people with you to go vote,"
Collins also said that if elected he would be one more vote for the SAVE America Act, which he described as a measure to safeguard American elections.
Trump called Jackson “a truly great patriot” and urged Georgians to back him in the governor’s race. He drew a sharp contrast with Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former Atlanta mayor now running statewide. Trump said she “eliminated cash bail for vicious criminals, turned Atlanta into a deadly sanctuary city,” and warned that if she becomes governor, “she will ruin your state.” He labeled her “an incompetent disaster.” Those claims came from Trump at the podium; the rally account did not independently document her record.
Gurley’s turn fits a wider pattern in Trump’s midterm swing. The president has already campaigned with baseball great Roger Clemens in Texas, boxing legend Mike Tyson in New York, former NFL head coach John Gruden and YouTuber-boxer Jake Paul in Ohio, and undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather in Arizona. Bringing a Georgia Bulldog and former Falcon into a North Georgia rally put a hometown face on that same outreach.
The logistics mattered as much as the applause lines. Gurley did not just wave from the rope line. He flew on Air Force One, rode in the motorcade into Dalton, and stood on stage while Trump converted football stats into a political endorsement and while Collins turned the clock on early voting into a turnout order.
For a state that still decides Senate and governor races on thin margins, the message was plain: star power is there to move ballots, not just fill seats. Trump’s team is stacking familiar names next to the candidates and daring Republican voters to leave early voting on the table.
Georgia gets the choice either way, show up, or watch someone else hang on to the seat.
