University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Jack Podlesny
September 29, 2022 | Football, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Jack Podlesny is full of surprises. The Georgia kicker wasn't all that into football until he got to college and walked on with the Bulldogs. Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn't dream of playing in the NFL. Instead, Podlesny aspires to a much different position, being in charge of UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides aid to disadvantaged children all over the world.
His life also changed thanks to taking the wrong UGA bus, as he'll explain below.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Podlesny, a senior from St. Simons Island, Ga., was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's William V.Campbell Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top football scholar-athlete. Podlesny is smart, thoughtful, conscientious, and the latest in a long line of talented Georgia kickers.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, he talked about growing up in a vacation destination, where he wants to be in 10 years, the challenge of taking over for the beloved Rodrigo Blankenship, his new dog, how taking the wrong bus led to him following a different path at Georgia, and much more. He also found a great hack to my question about traveling on somebody else's dime.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What was it like to grow up in St. Simons?
Podlesny: I didn't appreciate it until I left for college. I wanted to leave so badly in high school. My goal was to move out of the house my junior or senior year and live with my aunt and uncle in North Carolina so I could get in-state tuition at UNC. I had it all figured out, and I told myself, I'm going to hate it here so that it's easy to leave.
Things never worked out, and then I started to like it even more come senior year and never wanted to leave. Funny enough, I rarely visited the beach besides walking my dogs. The water, I'm sure you've seen it, is brown, no waves, nothing. We actually always traveled to North Carolina (to Bald Head Island) when we went on vacation.
Frierson: Would you like to, if you can, have a place at St. Simons one day when you're older?
Podlesny: Because it relates to this: my goal has never been to play in the NFL. I didn't love football when I first got here — I didn't love football until, like, the beginning of last year. So I was very late to the party. I now love it, but the NFL's never been a dream of mine, and I think that's helped my success.
I want to buy a house on Bald Head for my parents. I want them to settle down in a house on Bald Head — that's my No. 1 driving factor.
Frierson: What was it like to follow Rodrigo as Georgia's kicker? Because he wasn't just a great kicker, he was a cult figure that got the biggest cheers every time his name was mentioned. That has to be a tough act to follow.
Podlesny: He was the guy for Georgia football. He played with Jake Fromm, and he still got the loudest cheers on Saturdays. I remember when they'd say Rodrigo Blankenship (over the PA system) and everyone would go nuts. There was a lot of pressure following in his footsteps.
Frierson: Growing up on St. Simons, did you ever go to Georgia-Florida games when you were young?
Podlesny: I sat down with Loran Smith not too long ago because he's writing a book. ... And I told him how I didn't watch football growing up. It was soccer and baseball for me — I'm a huge baseball fan. I'd watch baseball any day of the week — big Phillies fan. My dad grew up in South Jersey, so it's closer to Philly.
So no, I never went to a Georgia-Florida game until I played in one.
Frierson: If the Phillies are your baseball team, do you have a favorite soccer team?
Podlesny: It's hard to stay up to date with the (English) Premier League because it's so ongoing. Baseball's a little bit easier because it's homegrown. I still have yet to catch an Atlanta United game but I really want to because I've heard those games are the best.
Frierson: What do you do to get away from school and football?
Podlesny: So, I have a dog, and the biggest thing is just going on long walks. That is my escape away from reality. Her name is Bear and she's a Covid puppy (that looked a great deal like a small black bear cub, hence the name). Back home, when I was in high school, we would foster for the Humane Society. Come Covid, my mom had agreed to take in three puppies.
I come home from spring break (after UGA shut down) and there are three puppies. I see Bear and I'm like, I'm going to keep that dog. I've had her for two years now and she's two and a half. She's a mix and she's 33% pit bull, and she's got like eight different breeds in her — pit bull, beagle, lab and a bunch more.
Frierson: What is it like growing up in a house where you're fostering a bunch of dogs? I bet it was easy to get pretty attached to them.
Podlesny: It was. You can get very attached. It's hard even now, when I have to come back here, to not see the puppies anymore.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Podlesny: [Laughs] Most people on this team would say NFL, right?
Frierson: Absolutely. That's why I asked you the question, because I it seemed like you might have a much different answer.
Podlesny: I want to be the CEO of a public health company, like UNICEF or UNICEF USA. I'd love to travel and work globally, and work as something like a public health advisor for the CDC. That's at the beginning, and then one day be the CEO.
Frierson: You've already got an undergrad degree in Environmental Health, so what are you studying now?
Podlesny: I was getting an Environmental Health master's and I switched to Public Health because I wanted a more broad degree.
Frierson: Where did this call or desire to do this come from?
Podlesny: I was coming in as a (Biology) undergrad and I hopped on the wrong bus at orientation, and I went to the College of Public Health. They started talking about the Environmental Health major and I was like, this is kind of fascinating. You could do this and still go to med school, so I was like, I'll try this out. ...
That helped, and then I had the best professor ever, Dr. Luke Naeher, and he has shaped my path for me — I'd say he's my mentor and one of my best friends now, too.
Frierson: That's awesome. I love that your life changed by getting on the wrong bus. The only thing better would be if you'd also met the love of your life on that bus.
Podlesny: [Laughs] Right! That's true.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you go and who would you take with you?
Podlesny: It's definitely going to be on Jeff Bezos' dime because he's got all the money [laughs].
Frierson: I haven't thought about whose dime it was. You're the first person to come up with that. It's a wonderful loophole since that's pretty much an infinite amount of money.
Podlesny: I've always wanted to travel to Japan, and I'd probably take my mom. My mom just means a lot to me — she's obviously shaped who I am today and I don't go a day without calling my mom. Once I walk out of this (Butts-Mehre) facility, I'm on the phone with my mom, from when I walk to my car, all the way until I get home.
Frierson: I'm sure she appreciates that, and I'm sure it means a lot to you, too.
Podlesny: A lot of my friends are like, "I need to be better about calling my parents," and they do it like once every week or two. And I'm like, am I weird for calling my mom every day? Maybe [laughs].
Frierson: Weird isn't the right word, but I would guess that is unusual.
Podlesny: I see my mom as my mom, but also as my best friend. During Covid, I didn't take it for granted at all that I got to be home. In 2012, my entire family moved in with my grandfather — he had Parkinson's and he passed away during the middle of our season in 2020. He was one of my biggest fans and that time at home with him and my entire family during Covid was really special.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
Staff Writer
Jack Podlesny is full of surprises. The Georgia kicker wasn't all that into football until he got to college and walked on with the Bulldogs. Unlike most of his teammates, he doesn't dream of playing in the NFL. Instead, Podlesny aspires to a much different position, being in charge of UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides aid to disadvantaged children all over the world.
His life also changed thanks to taking the wrong UGA bus, as he'll explain below.
Earlier this week, it was announced that Podlesny, a senior from St. Simons Island, Ga., was a semifinalist for the National Football Foundation's William V.Campbell Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top football scholar-athlete. Podlesny is smart, thoughtful, conscientious, and the latest in a long line of talented Georgia kickers.
During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, he talked about growing up in a vacation destination, where he wants to be in 10 years, the challenge of taking over for the beloved Rodrigo Blankenship, his new dog, how taking the wrong bus led to him following a different path at Georgia, and much more. He also found a great hack to my question about traveling on somebody else's dime.
Here's some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What was it like to grow up in St. Simons?
Podlesny: I didn't appreciate it until I left for college. I wanted to leave so badly in high school. My goal was to move out of the house my junior or senior year and live with my aunt and uncle in North Carolina so I could get in-state tuition at UNC. I had it all figured out, and I told myself, I'm going to hate it here so that it's easy to leave.
Things never worked out, and then I started to like it even more come senior year and never wanted to leave. Funny enough, I rarely visited the beach besides walking my dogs. The water, I'm sure you've seen it, is brown, no waves, nothing. We actually always traveled to North Carolina (to Bald Head Island) when we went on vacation.
Frierson: Would you like to, if you can, have a place at St. Simons one day when you're older?
Podlesny: Because it relates to this: my goal has never been to play in the NFL. I didn't love football when I first got here — I didn't love football until, like, the beginning of last year. So I was very late to the party. I now love it, but the NFL's never been a dream of mine, and I think that's helped my success.
I want to buy a house on Bald Head for my parents. I want them to settle down in a house on Bald Head — that's my No. 1 driving factor.
Frierson: What was it like to follow Rodrigo as Georgia's kicker? Because he wasn't just a great kicker, he was a cult figure that got the biggest cheers every time his name was mentioned. That has to be a tough act to follow.
Podlesny: He was the guy for Georgia football. He played with Jake Fromm, and he still got the loudest cheers on Saturdays. I remember when they'd say Rodrigo Blankenship (over the PA system) and everyone would go nuts. There was a lot of pressure following in his footsteps.
Frierson: Growing up on St. Simons, did you ever go to Georgia-Florida games when you were young?
Podlesny: I sat down with Loran Smith not too long ago because he's writing a book. ... And I told him how I didn't watch football growing up. It was soccer and baseball for me — I'm a huge baseball fan. I'd watch baseball any day of the week — big Phillies fan. My dad grew up in South Jersey, so it's closer to Philly.
So no, I never went to a Georgia-Florida game until I played in one.
Frierson: If the Phillies are your baseball team, do you have a favorite soccer team?
Podlesny: It's hard to stay up to date with the (English) Premier League because it's so ongoing. Baseball's a little bit easier because it's homegrown. I still have yet to catch an Atlanta United game but I really want to because I've heard those games are the best.
Frierson: What do you do to get away from school and football?
Podlesny: So, I have a dog, and the biggest thing is just going on long walks. That is my escape away from reality. Her name is Bear and she's a Covid puppy (that looked a great deal like a small black bear cub, hence the name). Back home, when I was in high school, we would foster for the Humane Society. Come Covid, my mom had agreed to take in three puppies.
I come home from spring break (after UGA shut down) and there are three puppies. I see Bear and I'm like, I'm going to keep that dog. I've had her for two years now and she's two and a half. She's a mix and she's 33% pit bull, and she's got like eight different breeds in her — pit bull, beagle, lab and a bunch more.
Frierson: What is it like growing up in a house where you're fostering a bunch of dogs? I bet it was easy to get pretty attached to them.
Podlesny: It was. You can get very attached. It's hard even now, when I have to come back here, to not see the puppies anymore.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Podlesny: [Laughs] Most people on this team would say NFL, right?
Frierson: Absolutely. That's why I asked you the question, because I it seemed like you might have a much different answer.
Podlesny: I want to be the CEO of a public health company, like UNICEF or UNICEF USA. I'd love to travel and work globally, and work as something like a public health advisor for the CDC. That's at the beginning, and then one day be the CEO.
Frierson: You've already got an undergrad degree in Environmental Health, so what are you studying now?
Podlesny: I was getting an Environmental Health master's and I switched to Public Health because I wanted a more broad degree.
Frierson: Where did this call or desire to do this come from?
Podlesny: I was coming in as a (Biology) undergrad and I hopped on the wrong bus at orientation, and I went to the College of Public Health. They started talking about the Environmental Health major and I was like, this is kind of fascinating. You could do this and still go to med school, so I was like, I'll try this out. ...
That helped, and then I had the best professor ever, Dr. Luke Naeher, and he has shaped my path for me — I'd say he's my mentor and one of my best friends now, too.
Frierson: That's awesome. I love that your life changed by getting on the wrong bus. The only thing better would be if you'd also met the love of your life on that bus.
Podlesny: [Laughs] Right! That's true.
Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you go and who would you take with you?
Podlesny: It's definitely going to be on Jeff Bezos' dime because he's got all the money [laughs].
Frierson: I haven't thought about whose dime it was. You're the first person to come up with that. It's a wonderful loophole since that's pretty much an infinite amount of money.
Podlesny: I've always wanted to travel to Japan, and I'd probably take my mom. My mom just means a lot to me — she's obviously shaped who I am today and I don't go a day without calling my mom. Once I walk out of this (Butts-Mehre) facility, I'm on the phone with my mom, from when I walk to my car, all the way until I get home.
Frierson: I'm sure she appreciates that, and I'm sure it means a lot to you, too.
Podlesny: A lot of my friends are like, "I need to be better about calling my parents," and they do it like once every week or two. And I'm like, am I weird for calling my mom every day? Maybe [laughs].
Frierson: Weird isn't the right word, but I would guess that is unusual.
Podlesny: I see my mom as my mom, but also as my best friend. During Covid, I didn't take it for granted at all that I got to be home. In 2012, my entire family moved in with my grandfather — he had Parkinson's and he passed away during the middle of our season in 2020. He was one of my biggest fans and that time at home with him and my entire family during Covid was really special.
(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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