UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Warren Ericson

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Warren Ericson did not disappoint in his first career start on Georgia’s offensive line, lining up at right guard in the Bulldogs’ Sugar Bowl win over Baylor. The redshirt sophomore also didn’t disappoint during a Quick Chat after practice Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4 and 305-pound Ericson, from Suwanee, Ga., covered a lot of ground in a nine-minute phone interview. He talked about fishing on the Chattahoochee River, his days playing soccer (his brother Peyton played at South Carolina) and lacrosse — which may explain his good footwork — and when asked what kind of meal he’d cook for some teammates, Ericson gave a delicious and highly-detailed answer.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: Have you done anything new or interesting over the past five months?

Ericson: Obviously, being quarantined, it’s a little bit tough to get out and be with friends, which is something I like to do. I would definitely say that getting to spend some good time with my family was really nice. I also got to go and experience a little bit of the outdoors — I live right next to the Chattahoochee River, so I got to fish a little bit there.

I didn’t really change anything up, I just stayed as socially distant as possible and just tried to work on my (blocking) technique and get stronger.

Frierson: Do you have a good fishing story, either from the quarantine or any other time you’ve been?

Ericson: I like to fly fish, which is kind of a unique thing, but I don’t know if I have an interesting story. There have been so many times that I’ve been out there and I’ll catch this trout that is, they’re so hard to reel in with the fly — that’s why it’s so fun, it’s a little bit tougher with the hand reel — and every since time, right when it gets close to the net, it seems like it jumps right off the hook.

It makes you want to quit, for a second, but then it’s like, I’ve got to try it again.

Frierson: It’s not the catching part of fly fishing that I like, it’s just being out there in a beautiful and peaceful spot and trying to do the cast perfectly. There’s almost something meditative about it.

Ericson: Oh, yeah, you’re absolutely right, it is. You get to be on the river or any body of water, and you’re constantly active. It’s almost like you get to be one with nature — it’s kind of a cool and surreal experience.

Frierson: Speaking of surreal experiences, what was it like to make your first start in the Sugar Bowl?

Ericson: That’s something that I’ve been dreaming about since I was little, playing for a Division I, high-level school like the University of Georgia, and getting to start in one of the most prestigious bowl that there is, against a really good defense.

I had a job to do and so the week leading up to it and actually the game itself, I didn’t take too much time to soak it in. The job was at hand and I wanted to win, and I wanted to get my job done. Afterward, it was really cool.

My girlfriend and her family were there and my family was there, and they got to see me play, so that was really cool. Just being there and being on the winning side of that, and knowing that I had an important part in the game was a really, really cool experience.

Frierson: What other sports did you play growing up?

Ericson: I played a lot of sports, off the top of my head: baseball, soccer, I played lacrosse, I’ve always played golf. I enjoyed soccer and my older brother, he played soccer for the University of South Carolina, and so he and I when we were growing up — he was a little bit better — we played soccer. I gained a little bit more weight, so I couldn’t run around as much, so I gave that up.

I liked playing baseball but I had a little trouble with the batting aspect, and I played that for a few years. I really liked lacrosse; at that point, I was a bigger guy and that was around middle-school age, and I actually played attack, so I was one of the leading scorers on the team. That was really fun because I was able to show a little bit of my finesse side doing that.

I played a wide variety of stuff. My parents really emphasized being out and being active and being part of a team.

Frierson: What’s something you could eat every day and never get tired of it?

Ericson: I would say just a really well put together sushi roll. That’s something that I could just chow down on, and I can’t do it as much because it’s really expensive and it’s a lot of calories and it fills you up pretty fast.

Frierson: Do you have a preferred type of sushi roll? If you’re going to Chuck’s or some other place in town, do you have a standard order?

Ericson: I haven’t been to Chuck’s but I’ve heard very good things about it. What I always like to do, I don’t like to go for a California roll, I want to spice things up and get a new, crazy twist, something that I didn’t think would go together. I try to spice it up a little bit.

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

Ericson: I would really like to be an amazing musician, just someone who is fluent with the keys, fluent playing the guitar, someone that can just pick anything up and play it really well. That would be a really cool thing.

Frierson: Do you have a creative side?

Ericson: I like to cook, I really like to cook, and I’m a relatively good artist. I find myself when I’m mindlessly sitting around doing a little doodling. My oldest brother was really artistic and when I saw him drawing I would want to pick up a pencil and do the same things.

When I was little, my mom wanted me to play the piano, so I took a little bit of piano lessons — I was not a very big fan of it.

Frierson: Speaking of cooking, if you’ve got some teammates coming over for dinner, what are you going to make for them?

Ericson: I would love to do some slow-smoked ribs, put that on a Green Egg. I would do some ribs and then I would get some sweet potato and I would cut it up so they’re big and round pieces. A little olive oil, salt and pepper, toss those up and then I would put the potatoes on the grill, grill them up a little so they’re soft on the inside. And then I would take a hot Sriracha sauce and I would drizzle that over there.

I would then finish it off with a really good blue cheese crumble salad. I think that’s what I would do.

Frierson: That may be the best answer I’ve ever heard to that question. The level of specificity was extraordinary. And it made me hungry.

Ericson: [Laughs] That’s a good thing, that’s what it’s all about.

(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.