University of Georgia Athletics
A Quick Chat With ... Michael Chigbu
August 19, 2016 | Football
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
Michael Chigbu hasn't had time for the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, not even with so many Georgia Bulldogs competing and winning medals. The sophomore wide receiver on the Georgia football team has been so swamped with preseason practice and the start of fall semester, anything else happening in the sports world is only consumed in snippets and highlights.
The 6-foot-2, 213-pound Chigbu, from New Orleans, had four catches for 28 yards as a freshman last season. His role will likely be much larger this season, following the graduation of last season's leading receiver, Malcom Mitchell.
Following Wednesday's practice, Chigbu sat down for a quick conversation. With the U.S. men's basketball team beating up on Argentina on a television behind him, the usually soft-spoken Chigbu talked about what he loves about his hometown, his most amazing athletic feat ever and much more.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: If you could be an Olympic gold medalist in any sport, what would it be?
Chigbu: (Laughs) Any sport? Man, I'd probably say the 100-meter dash.
Frierson: Have you been able to watch any of the Olympics? Obviously you guys have been busy with preseason practice and school starting, but I'm sure there are some things you'd like to watch.
Chigbu: I would like to watch some of it. I'll catch clips here and there from ESPN or if somebody sends me a video I catch that, but I don't get to watch it much.
Frierson: I'm not sure people really get how immersed you guys are when it comes to the preseason, and then when you add in the start of fall semester. How tough is it to pay any attention to what's going on outside of what you have to do each day?
Chigbu: Camp is to focus on football; once school starts I'm obviously worried about school, but outside of that it's mostly football. We've got to get everything done in these days that we have in order to prepare for every game this season.
Frierson: What's the greatest play or athletic feat of your life? It can be on the football field, in the backyard or anywhere at any time.
Chigbu: Oh man (laughs and smiles really big), I think I was about 12 or 13 years old and one day at my friend's birthday party everybody was doing flips. I didn't think I could do a back flip and I did a back flip — and I've never done it since.
That was craziest thing I've ever done.
Frierson: A back flip into a pool?
Chigbu: No, just a regular (standing) back flip in the back yard. I was shocked, myself. I was young and I guess I was just in the moment. ... One and done. I went home and told my brother, "Bro, I did a back flip."
Frierson: You're from one of the great cities in America, New Orleans, so when you're in Athens what do you miss most about home?
Chigbu: Of course I've got to say the food but that would be cliche. The culture, I just love the culture down there. It's so different.
Frierson: There's nothing quite like it.
Chigbu: There's really nothing like it. ... If you live there and grow up there, you understand how much people love New Orleans. I really love it.
Frierson: What's the most creative thing you do? Or what do you do during the quiet times, away from football?
Chigbu: I love movies. I wish I was able to put together my own movie and have that creative mind, to see the scene. It's amazing to me.
Frierson: Kind of like what (former Georgia wide receiver Chris Conley, now with the Kansas City Chiefs) did with his "Star Wars" movie?
Chigbu: That was amazing. I watched it twice. I was like, "How did he do it?" And a student-athlete doing that, too, it's just amazing.
[Author's note: For those that haven't seen it — for starters, shame on you — here's the YouTube link to Conley's now infamous, at least in UGA circles, 26-minute Star Wars fan film (with nearly 570,000 views): Chris Conley's "Retribution". "Amazing" really is the right word for the project.]
Frierson: It's still sort of mind-blowing, because it's so well done, with so many moving pieces; he wrote and directed it — all while being a Georgia student-athlete.
Chigbu: While playing ball and going to school — that's just amazing to me.
Frierson: Is there a part of the game day experience at Georgia that you connect with the most? Is there something that still gets you every time?
Chigbu: When the crowd just starts screaming, that's just like, they're all here to watch us play football. It's something that we love to do, and we get to do it in front of people. Once you step on that field and the crowd starts cheering, that's a wonderful feeling.
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?
Chigbu: You get once chance at life and understand that football is just a game. It's a game we love, a game we compete in, but it's just a game. ... I just wish I could tell myself that football is a game and to enjoy every part of it.
Even when it's hard, enjoy it, because I know I'll never get today back. Today's gone.
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.
