UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Lewis Cine

Like almost all of his teammates on the top-ranked Georgia football team, Lewis Cine listens to music before games. The free safety isn’t trying to pump himself up, however. There’s nothing loud or aggressive blasting through his headphones. Instead, Cine is trying to slow everything down to a calm, measured state.

Whatever the 6-foot-1 and 200-pound junior from Cedar Hill, Texas, is doing, it’s working. Cine has started 21 straight games and is second on Georgia’s top-rated defense with 40 tackles.

During a Quick Chat on Monday, Cine, who has Haitian roots, talked about what he does to relax, being his own man, his creative side, and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: What do you do when you want to get away from school and football?

Cine: I try to go to the basics of what relaxes me. I think reggae vibes, reggae music, relaxes me. A bit of zouk and kompa, mostly Haitian music, I listen to a bit of that. It relaxes me, keeps me calm.

Even before games, that’s what I listen to. I don’t want to be over the top in terms of energy. I want to be at ease.

Frierson: I’m guessing not many of your teammates are listening to Haitian music before a game.

Cine: They listen to what they listen to to get ready and I do what I need to do. I feel like I’m different in my own way, and I enjoy that because I don’t want to be like anybody else.

Frierson: You strike me as someone that’s walking his own path and is comfortable doing so. Did you have to learn to be comfortable doing your own thing?

Cine: When you’re around a whole lot of people, you find it difficult to see what you like. What are you going to like? What do you like to do? But once I decided to go my own route and figure out, soul search for myself to see what does Lewis like to do, what are his pet peeves, basically learning little bits about myself, I was OK with that. And, frankly, I like it that way.

Frierson: I see you’re wearing a necklace with what looks like a small wooden turtle on it. Does that have any specific meaning for you?

Cine: Turtles, they signify taking things slow. For me, with things going fast in the world, everyone’s got a quick pace with everything, this is about taking life slow.

Frierson: Are you doing that with this football season? You guys are obviously doing very, very well and I know you can’t dwell on anything too long, but are you taking a moment to appreciate what’s happening?

Cine: Oh, of course. You never know when it’s going to happen again, so you’ve got to take a moment. We are taking everything slow; the season right now, we’re at the point in the season where it feels like everything’s going slow, so you kind of need an edge to see what’s going to keep motivating you.

We know what motivates us and we know what we want to do and where we want to end up.

Frierson: We’ve got Thanksgiving coming up in a couple of weeks, so do you have a favorite Thanksgiving dish or family tradition?

Cine: Honestly, my guy, as long as there’s food on the table [laughs] I’m a happy camper. I love food. I wouldn’t say I have one specific dish, so whatever is there, whatever is present, I’m all for it.

Frierson: Do you have a creative side? Is there anything creative you do or wish you could do?

Cine: I can draw, I’m a really good artist. But other than that, I don’t do music but I like to listen to all music, all types of genres.

I used to take drawing classes and I was real serious about it. I thought at one point in time that I would go to art school, but things change. I may not have a whole lot of time to do my drawings now, but it’s always there.

Frierson: Who is the funniest guy on the team?

Cine: It might not be the same for everybody but for me, Javon Bullard, one of the young cats, is really funny. I’ve had the chance to room with him and he’s near my locker, and the guy puts a smile on my face every time.

Those guys are real precious in the locker room because even when things are not going well for him or whatever, he knows how to make people laugh and how to get people having a good time. And I really appreciate that.

Frierson: If you could be great at anything for a day, just to experience it, what would it be?

Cine: I want to know what it’s like to be the ultimate businessman or businesswoman. What are the ins and outs of a busy day for them — the decision-making and make-it-or-break-it decisions that they make every day. I want to know because one day I’m going to have to do that and I would like to see what that feels like.

Frierson: How much are you thinking about life after football?

Cine: My man, I think about that every day. A lot of people my age probably aren’t thinking about that. Me, I’m more future-oriented. I tend to look years ahead, like, other than football what do I want to do? What do I like to do? I’ve thought about that and written it down.

All of my chips are not just football, I’m more than just a football player.

Frierson: What are some of the things you’re thinking about doing?

Cine: I happen to be a good speaker, in my opinion. I can always become better and I will strive to do that. I’d like to get into broadcasting, but more like doing international news. I like to travel but also I want to learn about people and be able to get information out there. I think you can get the best of both worlds doing that.

(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.