University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Christian Payne
September 23, 2015 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Christian Payne grew up going to Georgia football games. The Bulldogs' sophomore fullback, an Athens native, is living the dream of so many whose early years were shaped in part by Saturdays at Sanford Stadium.
During a recent chat, the 6-foot-1, 232-pound Payne, who may miss Saturday's game against Southern University due to a leg injury, talked about playing for the hometown Bulldogs, football movies and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What part of the college experience, especially being a local, has been a surprise? Has it been different from what you expected, now that you're seeing it from the inside versus the outside?
Christian: I didn't realize how spread out the classes were going to be. Getting on the bus system and learning how all that works; I didn't realize it was going to be like all that. I guess I thought it would be, you get up in the dorm and just walk to class. But some of those classes are a long way from each other, really spread out. Georgia's a really big campus and I guess I didn't realize just how big it is.
Frierson: I grew up only a couple of blocks from (the Butts-Mehre Heritage Hall) and I never knew what 95 percent of the buildings on campus were called or were for. I knew the athletic facilities and I knew the Tate Center and the bookstore, but that's about it. Were you that way, as well?
Christian: I didn't even know where the bookstore was. I didn't know where any of that stuff was. I knew where Sanford Stadium was and I knew how to get there from the tailgating site we went to, and that's about it.
I'd recognize buildings but I didn't know anything about them, so once I got here it was like, "Oh, that's the chemistry building, I've been walking by there for years."
Frierson: Say it's Saturday night after a game and you can pig out on anything, what are you eating?
Christian: I'm a big fan of Longhorn Steakhouse. A big 16 oz. ribeye with a baked potato, I could live off that 24-7, 365 days a year.
Frierson: Do you remember when you realized it was time to make a real commitment to football and began putting in the work that eventually got you to where you are today?
Christian: I wasn't highly recruited coming out of high school, at all. After my junior year I was like 5-11, 190 and didn't have any offers. I didn't really even think about playing in college at that point. I just loved playing football in high school, just for the pure love of the game, and I loved coming to watch Georgia games.
I really got after in the weight room, just trying to bigger purely for high school reasons, so I could be a better high school player. And we got a new coach (at Prince Avenue Christian School) my senior year in Jeff Herron, and he talked to me about trying to play in college somewhere. That's when I decided to try to really make a run at this.
I went to some camps over the summer before my senior year and enjoyed the experience. I'd go up there and do my best and let it all out. Presbyterian wound up being my only offer and Wofford and some other schools were looking at me a little bit. And then the preferred option came up here about halfway through my senior season. ....
So I could have gone to a smaller school and maybe started right away or come here and learn from the great coaches and players here. So far it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
Frierson: Is there a football movie you really like? Is there one that actually captures what it's like to be a football player?
Christian: I really love "Remember the Titans." It's just a classic; I love the part where they go to camp and everything and form the bond. I really like that stuff because that's what it's really like. Every team is different and when you come to camp you don't know how the team's going to jell.
You have the summer workouts and everything, where you kind of get to know the freshmen, but you don't know how everything's going to jell until fall camp. It's a grind like it was in the movie and at the end of the day they came together.
Frierson: If you could have played any other sport for the Bulldogs, what would it be?
Christian: Probably golf. I like to play a little bit of golf and I have a couple of buddies on the (football) team and we play some golf. After we'd get done running and everything (during summer workouts), that's what we'd do. I didn't take classes over the summer, so we'd go hit some golf balls on the range and go play over at Lane Creek.
It was a relaxing break from all the football stuff.
Frierson: Is playing for Georgia and getting to run out onto the field at Sanford Stadium more special for you because you grew up here? It's almost like you grew up listening to the Rolling Stones and now you're playing guitar in the band.
Christian: It definitely something special. It was definitely surreal, I guess that's the word, when I started coming in here (Butts-Mehre) and being in the weight room or out on the practice fields. I came to Mark Richt football camps and stuff, I was one of those little kids, and now when I see those little kids out there, it's like, you really do have a chance to make your dreams come true.
John Frierson is a staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. Follow him on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
