Quick Chat: Solomon Kindley
October 17, 2018 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Solomon Kindley has a unique relationship with the Georgia-Florida football game; he's had a front-row seat. The Jacksonville, Fla., native grew up a Florida fan before joining the Bulldogs, where the redshirt sophomore has found a home as the starting left guard. Ironically, his home in Jacksonville, he said, is orange.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, the very large Kindley talked about the life of a big man, the Georgia-Florida game, playing basketball and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:Â
Frierson: Does an off week feel much like an off week?
Kindley: It's not an off week for us, it's a work week. That comes from Coach Smart, from everybody — that's how we've always done it and that's how we're always going to do it.
Frierson: You're listed at 6-foot-4 and 335 pounds — what do those of us that aren't that big not get about the life of a big man?
Kindley: If you think about it, it's not too much more difficult than a regular-sized person. As a matter of fact, if you think about it, it's actually even better, because when you walk around or anything somebody's going to always be looking at you, somebody's always going to want to talk to you. It's not too difficult, I'm just a little bit bigger and a little bit taller.
Frierson: As big as you are, you carry the weight really well and have quick feet, which is part of why you're a good football player.
Kindley: When I was younger I couldn't play football until I was in like the sixth or seventh grade. I started playing basketball when I was like 5, so I can play basketball really good. That's what got me the way I am now, I've got good feet because of basketball. That was my first sport and I didn't know anything about football until I got to the sixth or seventh grade.
Also, I was a lifeguard in high school, so I could get in the pool and I could play a lot of basketball.
[At this point, safety J.R. Reed walked in and confirmed that Kindley is a good basketball player. "No, no, for real, I'm not just saying that," Reed said.]
Frierson: Were you big from day one or was there a major growth spurt at some point when you were young?
Kindley: My auntie had a wedding in like 2009 or '10, and I was just a little ball. After that wedding, I sprouted up. That was maybe in the sixth grade and I just sprouted up to like 6-2 in the sixth grade. Next thing you know I'm 6-3 and then up to 6-4.
Frierson: That means buying a lot of bigger clothes and a lot more food. What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Kindley: Chicken wings — love chicken wings.
Frierson: I have heard that you're not a steak eater. What is it about steak you don't like?
Kindley: Yeah, I don't really like steak. I just don't like it, I just prefer chicken. I don't like the thick meat and that type of stuff.
Frierson: Do you ever look at someone like Mecole Hardman or Terry Godwin, someone really lean that moves with such ease, and wish you were that size? Sitting in coach on a plane is certainly a lot easier for someone their size.
Kindley: I look at those guys and I don't see as anything much different. The way I see it, on a plane they got to have someone sitting beside them while I usually got the row to myself. So in that situation, you'll wish you were big.
Frierson: If you could be great at any other sport for a day, just to experience it, what sport would you choose?
Kindley: I want to play basketball, for sure.
Frierson: Would you want to be LeBron James for a day, or maybe Kevin Durant or Steph Curry?
Kindley: LeBron's the best in the world so I'd want to be, but back in the day my favorite player, he's actually a big man, too: Glen Davis, Big Baby Davis. I loved Big Baby Davis, he reminds me of myself when I was on the court — he was big but he could really play and move.
Frierson: Growing up in Jacksonville, how aware of or into the Georgia-Florida game were you as a kid?
Kindley: Where I live at now, which was my grandma's house, it's like five minutes away from the stadium. Everybody's always, "It's Georgia-Florida week, it's Georgia-Florida week, it's Georgia-Florida week." The whole city comes together and there's a lot of tailgating.
That week, the high school football games that should be on Friday, "oh no, we can't play the game on Friday, we've got to play this game on Thursday because it's the Georgia-Florida game."
My family, and to be honest my whole neighborhood, I think my family is the only Georgia fans. (Laughs) And relive it or not, my house is orange. People are like, "How are you going to be a Georgia fan and your house is orange?"
Frierson: As a kid did you root for one school over the other?
Kindley: You know, I'm from Florida so I liked Florida. I always liked Florida and when I was a kid I was like, oh yeah, I'm going to Florida. But now I'm at the best university in the world.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
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.
