University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Dominick Sanders
October 06, 2016 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Some question-and-answer sessions start out silly — most of these, in fact — and may veer into more serious terrain at some point. Tuesday's quick chat with Georgia defensive back Dominick Sanders was meant to begin on that silly path, but the junior from Tucker, Ga., went another, very poignant way.
When I ask Bulldogs to name something from their childhood that they really miss, I'm thinking more along the lines of the answer linebacker Natrez Patrick recently gave. Patrick said he missed all his Scooby-Doo stuff. Instead, Sanders talked about the father he lost as a boy — Johnny Morris died when Sanders was 6 — and still misses.
The conversation bounced from serious to playful and back, as most great conversations do. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What's something from your childhood that you really miss?
Sanders: I would say my father; I miss seeing my father. ... Every day, I wish he could be here to see what I've got going on football-wise and school-wise. I really can't say because I was so young when he passed away, but I would love to have him here, being a part of this and seeing what I'm doing on and off the field.
I would just love to have him be a part of my life; he is still a part of my life, he's just not here.
Frierson: Is there one part of your life you think he'd be most proud of?
Sanders: I look back at where I came from and the things he tried to do to get us out of that situation, but we just couldn't get up out of there. ... One thing I focused on after he left us was, what can I do now? Me and my brother, really, we did something that nobody in our family had ever done, which is graduate from high school.
My brother (Chris, who began his playing career at Georgia before finishing at Baylor) got his master's at Baylor and I'm working on the same thing. I'm doing stuff that's also a goal for the family, just helping out younger people in the family that look up to us.
Frierson: Is there one sport where you watch and wonder, how the heck do they do that?
Sanders: I would say it would be golf. That's a sport where it's not even people part of a team. It's only you so you have to focus on what you have to do.
Frierson: Can you appreciate an individual sport like that or are you much more a team sport guy, with football probably being the ultimate team sport?
Sanders: I like team sports, just having brothers out there you can go to, talk to and get to know people. I like being part of a team and learning about my teammates, seeing what we have in common.
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?
Sanders: Just come in and make a name for yourself, without doing too much talking. Give 100 percent on and off the field, handle your grades, academic-wise do everything you have to do, don't get in any trouble, don't be on any lists for being late or anything — and just out-compete at your position. Then it all will fall into place.
Frierson: What's the best thing that's entered your life in 2016? It can be a movie, an album, food, music, a person — whatever.
Sanders: I would say, really, a new me. Just my mindset kind of changed. I just started focusing on life and what I've got to do to be great. I was thinking that as I came in, but now it's really getting closer to me being out of school and being on my own. One thing I can say is: "What can I do to be the best man I can be?"
Frierson: How aware are you of the craziness of the fan game-day experience? The elaborate tailgate parties and everything, how aware are players of what all is happening every Saturday?
Sanders: I'm very aware. I like the excitement and I like seeing all the kids out there. Some of the kids probably don't even know what's going on, they just know it's football. Just seeing the kids in the Dawg Walk and seeing everyone out there tailgating, you can tell that they're happy and enjoying what they've got going on, family-wise.
Just having them out there, that's a blessing, especially when I see the little kids smiling. I'll think, "Do they know what's going on?" They just know they're shaking some players' hands, players they look up to, and we've got to be a role model for them — shake their hands, smile and keep it moving.
Frierson: Do you look forward to one day being able to participate in all that?
Sanders: I look forward to having a family and letting my son or daughter know that this is what I used to do. That right there is joy and fun for those children.
Frierson: Who on the team makes you laugh the hardest?
Sanders: Man, Shaquery Wilson, Isaiah McKenzie, Davin Bellamy, Jarvis Wilson, Nick Chubb, Malkom Parrish, Reggie Wilkerson — there's a lot of people — Quincy Mauger. Those guys, we have those funny moments and they say some funny things and have me rolling.
Frierson: Most of the time are they inside jokes that only the guys in your world are going to appreciate?
Sanders: They are inside jokes. Somebody will say something and as a group we'll hear it and be falling out laughing. If we were around other people they wouldn't know what was going on, but for us we're just having that little moment laughing.
Frierson: What's the greatest play or athletic feat of your life? It can be something you did at Sanford Stadium or something you did in your backyard as a kid and nobody even saw it.
Sanders: It was at Ramsey, at the gym, and we were playing a pick-up basketball game. I was playing with Terry Godwin and Jarvis Wilson, and I was running down and one of my teammates had the ball and he missed a layup. Two guys on the other team went up and I grabbed the ball and I dunked on them.
I came down and I was like, "Did I just dunk on them?" It was crazy. I ran down and was just thinking to get the rebound, and I went up higher than them and I grabbed that ball and was so high that I was right there to dunk it. Everybody in the gym was like, "Whoa, he just dunked on two guys." That was just funny because I didn't think I could do that. I knew I could dunk but I didn't think I'd every dunk on two guys like that.
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.
