University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: George Pickens
September 21, 2020 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
George Pickens made a lot of highlight-reel plays during his freshman season on the Georgia football team. The talented wide receiver put on a show the last time we saw him, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day — which feels like ages ago now — when he caught 12 passes for 175 yards in the Bulldogs' win over Baylor, earning MVP honors.
The 6-foot-3 and 200-pound Pickens, from Hoover, Ala., has been making big plays as long as he's been playing sports, including, he told me during a Quick Chat after practice Friday, dunking a basketball for the first time in sixth grade. Pickens and the Bulldogs will start making plays again Saturday, at long last, when they open their 2020 season at Arkansas.
During our Chat, Pickens also talked about life during quarantine, his favorite meal, that first dunk, skydiving, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: How did you fill all the downtime and free time that you had during the months of quarantine?
Pickens: I went back to my old ways, what I used to do in high school; in high school, I used to have a lot of time on my hands just like quarantine, so I was just going to the field every day and working. I kind of figured that we were going to have a season even though people were saying no at the time. I was just working out every day.
Frierson: Being back home, did you almost feel like you were in high school again, sleeping in your bedroom and doing schoolwork during the day?
Pickens: Yeah, it was exactly how you said it. It was like high school all over again but I'm a little older. I still had Zoom calls, still had football, I still worked out at the same time every day. It was a lot like high school.
Frierson: What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
Pickens: I've always been an Optimus Prime guy. I don't know, I've always liked the bad guys. Even if they don't win, they have the coolest things in the movie. I've always been a Transformers guy.
Frierson: What did you make of the new uniforms that Georgia announced recently, particularly the throwback to the 1980 season with the white top and the red pants?
Pickens: I feel like that's a great thing. I feel like you play teams every year and they have this expectation, like, all right, we're playing Georgia and we know what they like to do. I feel like with the new uniforms, you never know what's going to happen because you've never seen us like this before. I feel like that's a good thing.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Pickens: Shrimp alfredo. I can make it, and I've always been a noodle guy, so ramen noodles is another thing. If you ask anybody around here, in the facility, ramen noodles is probably the go-to for me, or pasta.
Frierson: When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Pickens: I play for Georgia and when I go home it's all Auburn and Alabama — that's all I hear all the time. When I'm there I just kind of ignore it. That's the only they know.
Frierson: You probably know a bunch of people at those schools so I'm guessing there's a good amount of trash-talking happening.
Pickens: Oh yeah, I know everybody on each roster, Auburn and Alabama.
Frierson: What was your best play in high school? Is there one that stands out above the rest?
Pickens: You can actually look it up on YouTube, on one of my highlights. We played Brookwood, out of Georgia, at Troy University, and I ran a 12-yard curl and I literally went through the whole team (defense). If you look at it on YouTube, it's like, whoa.
Frierson: Did you play any other sports?
Pickens: I played basketball and I used to play baseball, and I ran track for like a year.
Frierson: Do you remember your first dunk? I always ask because I never came anywhere close to touching the rim.
Pickens: My first dunk was in sixth grade.
Frierson: What?
Pickens: Yeah [laughs]. I dunked in a game, my first dunk was in a game in sixth grade. My parents were shocked that I did it.
Frierson: I'm shocked hearing about it. How tall were you in sixth grade?
Pickens: I was like 6-foot.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Pickens: Probably skydiving.
Frierson: Where did that answer come from?
Pickens: That's kind of just like how my brain works. Anybody that knows me, I've always been a guy that wants to risk it all. Deep-sea diving or going into a cage to look at sharks. I'd want to get great at that or flying or skydiving, just to see if I could do it.
Frierson: That was a very unexpected answer. Have you done anything like that or are you waiting until after you're done with football so you don't risk anything?
Pickens: I'll probably wait until my football days are done, but I'm most definitely going to do it.
Frierson: There's a lot of new on Georgia's offense this year — a new coordinator, a new starting quarterback, new starting running backs and offensive linemen — so what is it like being one of the veteran guys this season?
Pickens: The one thing that I've learned with me coming back as a veteran and me last year not being a veteran, is like, I see that the younger the players are, you actually have more depth. They're young so they can kind of go all day — they can run all day and catch all day.
We may not have the veterans but we have a lot of depth because of all the young guys and they can just run all day. I feel like that's a good thing.
Frierson: You obviously had an amazing game in the Sugar Bowl, so how much have you watched those highlights and how much does a game like that help you going into this season?
Pickens: I kind of go back to that game every now and then just to watch my game play, to see what I did that game. At the time, I'm in a little zone and I just lock in, and that's when you see the stuff that happened. When I go back and watch the game, I see like, what did I do and what did I change? That was a good game, so whatever I did, I don't need to change it.
Frierson: So much has happened in the world since then, does it feel like that game was two or three years ago?
Pickens: Yeah, it feels like a year or two ago with the whole COVID thing. I feel like the COVID thing is going to be a decade thing, like people aren't going to forget this for a long time.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
George Pickens made a lot of highlight-reel plays during his freshman season on the Georgia football team. The talented wide receiver put on a show the last time we saw him, in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day — which feels like ages ago now — when he caught 12 passes for 175 yards in the Bulldogs' win over Baylor, earning MVP honors.
The 6-foot-3 and 200-pound Pickens, from Hoover, Ala., has been making big plays as long as he's been playing sports, including, he told me during a Quick Chat after practice Friday, dunking a basketball for the first time in sixth grade. Pickens and the Bulldogs will start making plays again Saturday, at long last, when they open their 2020 season at Arkansas.
During our Chat, Pickens also talked about life during quarantine, his favorite meal, that first dunk, skydiving, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: How did you fill all the downtime and free time that you had during the months of quarantine?
Pickens: I went back to my old ways, what I used to do in high school; in high school, I used to have a lot of time on my hands just like quarantine, so I was just going to the field every day and working. I kind of figured that we were going to have a season even though people were saying no at the time. I was just working out every day.
Frierson: Being back home, did you almost feel like you were in high school again, sleeping in your bedroom and doing schoolwork during the day?
Pickens: Yeah, it was exactly how you said it. It was like high school all over again but I'm a little older. I still had Zoom calls, still had football, I still worked out at the same time every day. It was a lot like high school.
Frierson: What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?
Pickens: I've always been an Optimus Prime guy. I don't know, I've always liked the bad guys. Even if they don't win, they have the coolest things in the movie. I've always been a Transformers guy.
Frierson: What did you make of the new uniforms that Georgia announced recently, particularly the throwback to the 1980 season with the white top and the red pants?
Pickens: I feel like that's a great thing. I feel like you play teams every year and they have this expectation, like, all right, we're playing Georgia and we know what they like to do. I feel like with the new uniforms, you never know what's going to happen because you've never seen us like this before. I feel like that's a good thing.
Frierson: What's something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?
Pickens: Shrimp alfredo. I can make it, and I've always been a noodle guy, so ramen noodles is another thing. If you ask anybody around here, in the facility, ramen noodles is probably the go-to for me, or pasta.
Frierson: When you think of home, what comes to mind?
Pickens: I play for Georgia and when I go home it's all Auburn and Alabama — that's all I hear all the time. When I'm there I just kind of ignore it. That's the only they know.
Frierson: You probably know a bunch of people at those schools so I'm guessing there's a good amount of trash-talking happening.
Pickens: Oh yeah, I know everybody on each roster, Auburn and Alabama.
Frierson: What was your best play in high school? Is there one that stands out above the rest?
Pickens: You can actually look it up on YouTube, on one of my highlights. We played Brookwood, out of Georgia, at Troy University, and I ran a 12-yard curl and I literally went through the whole team (defense). If you look at it on YouTube, it's like, whoa.
Frierson: Did you play any other sports?
Pickens: I played basketball and I used to play baseball, and I ran track for like a year.
Frierson: Do you remember your first dunk? I always ask because I never came anywhere close to touching the rim.
Pickens: My first dunk was in sixth grade.
Frierson: What?
Pickens: Yeah [laughs]. I dunked in a game, my first dunk was in a game in sixth grade. My parents were shocked that I did it.
Frierson: I'm shocked hearing about it. How tall were you in sixth grade?
Pickens: I was like 6-foot.
Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?
Pickens: Probably skydiving.
Frierson: Where did that answer come from?
Pickens: That's kind of just like how my brain works. Anybody that knows me, I've always been a guy that wants to risk it all. Deep-sea diving or going into a cage to look at sharks. I'd want to get great at that or flying or skydiving, just to see if I could do it.
Frierson: That was a very unexpected answer. Have you done anything like that or are you waiting until after you're done with football so you don't risk anything?
Pickens: I'll probably wait until my football days are done, but I'm most definitely going to do it.
Frierson: There's a lot of new on Georgia's offense this year — a new coordinator, a new starting quarterback, new starting running backs and offensive linemen — so what is it like being one of the veteran guys this season?
Pickens: The one thing that I've learned with me coming back as a veteran and me last year not being a veteran, is like, I see that the younger the players are, you actually have more depth. They're young so they can kind of go all day — they can run all day and catch all day.
We may not have the veterans but we have a lot of depth because of all the young guys and they can just run all day. I feel like that's a good thing.
Frierson: You obviously had an amazing game in the Sugar Bowl, so how much have you watched those highlights and how much does a game like that help you going into this season?
Pickens: I kind of go back to that game every now and then just to watch my game play, to see what I did that game. At the time, I'm in a little zone and I just lock in, and that's when you see the stuff that happened. When I go back and watch the game, I see like, what did I do and what did I change? That was a good game, so whatever I did, I don't need to change it.
Frierson: So much has happened in the world since then, does it feel like that game was two or three years ago?
Pickens: Yeah, it feels like a year or two ago with the whole COVID thing. I feel like the COVID thing is going to be a decade thing, like people aren't going to forget this for a long time.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Assistant Sports Communications Director 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.
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