Stetson Bennett IV put together an incredible effort in Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game, throwing for 2 touchdowns as Georgia beat Alabama 33-18 to claim its first title since 1980.

But, was the former walk-on quarterback playing hurt for most of the game?

ESPN reporter Kris Budden joined ESPNU Radio’s College Sports Today this week and said it appeared Bennett hurt his wrist on Georgia’s first offensive play and was battling through that injury all game long (via 247Sports):

“One thing I thought was interesting from a sideline perspective was that he (Bennett) took the sack on the first play of their first possession and he landed on his wrist awkwardly,” Budden said. “And he gets up and he’s rolling his wrist and for a good 3 quarters of the game, he’s trying to stretch it out. You could tell it bothered him. He came out at halftime and was using the Theragun massager on his forearm and honestly, his throws didn’t look great, especially the first half. S0 we were trying to wonder did that play into it. Did his wrist not feel good? Then maybe some adrenaline hit and once he started to make some throws, it was just spot on from there.

“That was kind of the concern. We saw him, he was really looking at his wrist. He stood up to throw at one point, I believe midway through the third quarter. He sat down and then JT (Daniels) got up to throw, and we were like, ‘huh, are they gonna make a switch?” And then they had that touchdown and it was all Stetson from there.”

If Bennett was indeed battling a wrist injury and still led the Dawgs to the title, that adds yet another chapter to his already storybook performance in 2021.

It’s safe to say the legend of Stetson Bennett continues to grow.