University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Jay Rome
November 18, 2015 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Jay Rome, like the rest of Georgia's seniors, will take the field at Sanford Stadium for the last time Saturday, when the Bulldogs face Georgia Southern in their home finale.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end, who has already graduated with a history degree, has 36 career catches, for 381 yards and three touchdowns. Rome had two catches for 29 yards in his last game against the Eagles, in 2012. Rome was a freshman then and the Eagles were still an FCS school in the Southern Conference, rather than an FBS program and the defending Sun Belt Conference champions.
Time does fly, as Rome and all the seniors now know way better than they did just a few years ago. Here's some of what the big man had to say during our quick chat:
Frierson: What's the funniest thing you've ever seen or heard on a football field?
Rome: It hasn't been me on the field, personally, and I can't remember what team it was, but some team ran a trick play and one of the wide receivers played dead. Do you remember that?
Frierson: What's funny is, when I asked this same question to Malcolm Mitchell, he had the same answer. I remember it was Malcolm because he thought the player had decided to do that on his own and I was like, no player would dare do that without a coach's permission. It was Arkansas State that did it (here's the video: Playing dead).
Rome: He just stiffed up and fell backward, and I thought that was the funniest thing, watching that on ESPN. I just died laughing.
Frierson: If you could have played with or against anyone in history, who would it be?
Rome: At my position right now, I'd probably have to say (New England Patriots megastar Rob) Gronkowski, and that's just because I feel like he's one of the greatest tight ends that's ever done it. I feel like I could learn a lot from him.
Frierson: What is it like watching the Gronk play, as somebody that plays that position? I would say he's the best position player in the league right now, meaning nobody is better at their position than he is at his. He's just unbelievable.
Rome: He really is. Being a tight end, I'd just like to watch him and see what he does, just learn and try to be a student of the game. When I watch I try to look at how he runs his routes and how he blocks, just trying to learn anything I can.
Frierson: Say it's the night after a game and you can pig out on anything, what are you ordering?
Rome: Most of the time after the games, me and my family go to FATZ here in Athens. I usually have the ribs.
Frierson: What do you do during the quiet times, away from football?
Rome: I like to read. I graduated as a history major, so I've done a lot of reading. I don't know if that was because I like to do it or if it was because of school, or a little bit of both. I really have an interest in history and those stories.
Frierson: What part of history most interested you?
Rome: I focused a lot on European and African history, and the roles that a lot of African countries had in aspects of history, that might not be taught in your traditional history courses coming up through grade school and high school.
Mostly you just learn, like through wars and things, what the European countries and the Asian countries had a part in, but what people don't realize is that a lot of colonies in Africa that sent a lot of African troops into the wars as well, that most people don't even know about.
I just like to learn about a lot of parts of history that weren't taught as mainstream history when I was growing up as a child.
Frierson: Do you remember the moment when you realized it was time to make a real commitment to the sport and began putting in the work that eventually got you to where you are today?
Rome: Probably my freshman year. I was the only freshman on varsity and I actually got some playing time. It was at that moment that I realized that I could be playing this sport for a while and I really need to fine-tune my game and really take this serious. Being the only freshman to participate on varsity, I kind of felt like I'd always have that opportunity to keep getting better and keep playing the sport.
Frierson: When you're the only freshman on varsity, does that make you kind of a big deal on campus?
Rome: I think it was a pretty big deal, but I tried not to think about it too much. It mattered the most probably on Fridays because we did have a freshman academy that was on campus at our high school, where all of the freshman classes were.
On Fridays when we got to wear our jerseys, I was the only person in the class wearing a varsity jersey. I guess that was pretty cool.
Frierson: If you could go back and talk to your 18-year-old self that was just arriving at Georgia, what would you tell him?
Rome: I'd tell him just to keep working hard no matter what happens. Everything's not going to go the way you expect it to go, but no matter which way it goes, just keep your head up and keep working hard. Whether it's injuries or whatever, everything's not always going to go the way you planned it to. That doesn't mean it's not going the way it's supposed to go.
Frierson: Is there a part of the game day experience at Georgia that you connect with the most? Is there something that still kind of gets you every time?
Rome: It's always when we're home and we do the countdown right before the kickoff. The crowd's going crazy and I always take a moment to look around and see everybody going crazy. Every time it's like, wow, we're really blessed to be here and to be able to have this opportunity.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
