University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: David Marshall
March 27, 2019 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
David Marshall has a spectacular voice, deep and rich. When the Georgia football rising senior is done on the gridiron he ought to get on the radio or do voice-over work.
A 6-foot-3 outside linebacker from Thomaston, Ga., about 45 miles west of Macon — as well as eight miles from a place called The Rock — Marshall put his voice to work after practice Tuesday during a Quick Chat. He talked about his hometown, his sack in the Rose Bowl, missing games with an injury and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What different sports did you play and what were you good at besides football?
Marshall: The first sport I played was baseball — I was pretty good — and after knowing that I was pretty good at baseball I started playing football, and then I started playing basketball. They all combined together; I was a pretty good player in all the sports but I had to pick one.
Frierson: When did you realize that as far as football goes, it was something beyond just a hobby?
Marshall: I started playing with my cousins and then I started loving it and then I started playing Pee-Wee; then I got to middle school and started liking it more, and when I got to high school I did like three games of JV and then they put me on varsity.
I knew I had talent and I kept playing, knowing that it was going to take me far.
Frierson: I have to ask about your voice, you have an awesome deep voice — have you ever done anything with it? Do other people comment on it?
Marshall: A lot of people comment on it, saying I've got a deep voice (laughs).
Frierson: What can you tell me about Thomaston? What was it like to grow up there?
Marshall: Thomaston is a small place, not much to do there, just a small town where everybody knows each other. Most everybody's cousins or something; just a small town. I know that a lot of people from there are not in the position that I'm in; it's hard to get out of there, being a small town.
Frierson: There have been some good Bulldogs from there, like KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).
Marshall: He's from Thomaston but he didn't go to school at Upson-Lee, he went to Greenville, like 30 minutes from Thomaston.
Frierson: I like to look up things about the small towns people are from and one thing I saw on Google Maps is that near Thomaston is a little place called The Rock. Do you know anything about The Rock — not the actor/wrestler but the town or village?
Marshall: The Rock, it's like a little tiny place where they have events and barnyard animals you can go see. It's like a little farm or something. They have concerts there and fireworks.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Marshall: Pizza — I get pepperoni sometimes and sometimes I get sausage.
Frierson: A big guy like yourself, you need a lot of calories, but how hard is it to make sure you eat the right things versus just chowing down on anything and everything?
Marshall: Basically, when I'm at home I eat healthy because I have my grandmom cooking and my other family members. But here, I'm on my own so it's kind of hard to eat right. They're feeding us more food and it's sometimes hard to eat right.
Frierson: When you say grandmom's cooking, what immediately comes to mind?
Marshall: Mmmm, I'd say collard greens and steak.
Frierson: Tastes like home?
Marshall: Oh, yeah.
Frierson: What's it been like coming from a small town of around 10,000 people, when the University of Georgia is more than three times the size of your hometown?
Marshall: It kind of felt the same, it's just bigger here and there's more people here. You're meeting new people here every day and you get more experiences here than at home.
Frierson: Looking back at your sports career, what is the best play of your life?
Marshall: The best was sacking (Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield) in the Rose Bowl. That's a big-time play I did.
Frierson: I kind of had a feeling you might say that. That one's going to stick with you forever.
Marshall: (Laughs) Oh, yeah, forever.
Frierson: Most of us don't know what it's like to be an injured player on a big-time team, so just how hard was it to sit out the last eight games last season with the foot injury?
Marshall: It was pretty hard emotionally before I had my surgery. I got hurt my junior year of high school and now I got hurt my junior year of college, so I know the feeling of not being on the field and it's kind of hard. You've just got to have that mindset of, it's just something that you can't help and you've got to keep going.
Frierson: Who's the funniest guy on the team?
Marshall: I'd say Divaad Wilson (laughs). You know how those Miami boys are, they're going to have jokes for everything and they can't be quiet, so most the time they're going to be talking. He cracks jokes every day, so he keeps everybody going and happy.
Frierson: What is it with the Miami guys, they all seem to have a big personality?
Marshall: I don't know, it's just how they do it down there, I guess.
(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.
