Major General Joe Jarrard isn't surprised by much. The Adjutant General of the Georgia National Guard has nearly 20 decorations and badges to his name, and has served abroad in Germany and Iraq. But even he was blown away by his first Atlanta United experience.
“It's amazing to see the energy and the crowd that attends those games,” MG Jarrard said. “Because it's non-stop for 90 minutes. It's unbelievable really.”
Before he was a Major General, he was just Joseph Jarrard from Gainesville, Georgia. But the lessons he learned here helped mold him into the man he is today.
“My southern roots if you will, are about hard work,” he says, “Working hard to be successful and understanding you have to work hard to accomplish something in life. To me that's just the southern culture.”
Major General Jarrard stuck to what he calls the traditional American sports – baseball, basketball and football – as he worked his way up the ranks at what's now known as the University of North Georgia. But the military can introduce you to new cultures, and he got his first brush with soccer in Germany, his first duty station back in 1989.
“The only English-speaking channel on television was on the BBC so every Saturday I got soccer,” he says. “I gained a lot of respect for the ability of soccer players from watching that. But I guess here in the last four or five years, I'd say, I've grown a better understanding of the game. My oldest son, he's 26 now, ever since he was in college he started following soccer.”
He says there are a lot of people just like his son in the Atlanta area, lovers of the beautiful game who were calling out for a hometown club.
“Soccer is a very big sport in the world. So for any of those fans that are not traditional sports fans, their number one sport is probably soccer. I think it's pretty evident that we've got a lot of those nontraditional fans if you just watch one of our home games.”
Jarrard first became aware of the team through the military. The Georgia National Guard, coincidentally, has a partnership with Argentina. He met Atlanta United's head coach Tata Martino at a celebration hosted by the Argentine Consul General for Atlanta. But he says even if he hadn’t, it would be impossible not to notice the excitement around the team in the city.
“I've just been keeping up with the great success we're having in season one. By success, one metric is the fan base and such a high level of attendance, and two the team is successful on the field also. And this team is doing well in both.”
As part of Atlanta United's Memorial Day Ceremony before Sunday's match against New York City FC, Major General Jarrard became the latest local hero to participate in the Golden Spike pregame ceremony. It was also his first time at Bobby Dodd Stadium for an Atlanta United home match. He says he left with a new understanding of why the team has adhered itself to the city so well.
“It's a different kind of experience watching a soccer game. It's not sitting down watching a baseball and drinking a cold beer and eating a hot dog and relaxing. These fans want to go and participate, and they do participate by staying on their feet and chanting and getting into the game.”
As for advice going forward? Major General Jarrard suggested the team, and the fans, live by the motto that's gotten them this far.
“In our society, we grow up wanting to win. And you're a lot stronger together than you are individually, you have to work together to be successful. That's what Unite and Conquer means. I think it's a great motto and I hope it's lived out over and over throughout the history of this soccer team.”
© 2026 Atlanta United FC
.png){kind=logo}
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)
.jpeg?auto=webp)