UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Travon Walker

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Travon Walker knows a lot about winning. The Georgia sophomore defensive lineman from Thomaston, Ga., was a part of Upson-Lee High School basketball teams that won 71 straight games and back to back state championships.

As a freshman last season, the 6-foot-5 and 290-pound Walker played in 12 games and had 2.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for loss, and was named to the Freshman All-SEC team. In the Sugar Bowl, he had three tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

During a Quick Chat after practice Monday, Walker talked about winning, playing the trombone, life as a sophomore, mowing the lawn with his dad and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: What is it like going through practice now as a sophomore compared to last season when everything was new?

Walker: I’d say mentally it’s gotten a lot better, the college game has gotten a lot slower for me because I know the defensive scheme and I’m more knowledgeable about what’s going on with our whole defense, instead of just knowing my job.

Frierson: Who was your favorite athlete growing up?

Walker: I’d have to say Ray Lewis, J.J. Watt, Michael Vick were my three favorites.

Frierson: Was there anyone you tried to model your game after?

Walker: In high school, I started watching a lot of Aaron Donald, and Vic Beasley, my ninth-grade year, he was doing really good and that’s where I got the No. 44.

Frierson: Going back to your high school basketball days, what was it like being part of a team that won 70-something games in a row and a couple of state titles?

Walker: It was pretty good. I’d been playing with those guys from recreation all the way to the same middle school and the same high school, so just knowing that we all had that same chemistry and had played together for so long, it really meant a lot because we achieved a lot. It really meant a lot and that’s something that we’ll always remember.

Frierson: When you’re winning that many games in a row, was there pressure to keep winning, or were you having too much fun to feel any pressure?

Walker: No, I’ve always been taught to just take it game by game. The only people that make the pressure are the outsiders looking in.

Frierson: Do you remember your first dunk?

Walker: I don’t, but I want to say it was like ninth grade or something like that.

Frierson: What was your favorite toy when you were a kid?

Walker: My dad had me a little push lawnmower and every time he’d go outside I’d be out there with my little push lawnmower. He used to make me put my football helmet on just to condition me. My dad was always that tough guy, he was in the Marines, so he’s still got that toughness about him — he wanted me to be the best I could be.

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

Walker: I don’t know, I love big cheeseburgers and I love hibachi shrimp and hibachi rice. And wings. One place in Athens I do love is Five Bar, I could eat their shrimp every day.

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

Walker: I can still read music and I was in the band my seventh- and eighth-grade years. I had to stop in ninth grade because of football and weight training, but I still know how to read music a little bit.

I played the trombone. I started doing it because I thought it was going to be an easy class, and I had a choice of either renting a trombone or buying one, and my mom just went on ahead and bought it. My sister could sing, so she was into music too, and my uncle was into music.

Frierson: When was the last time you picked up the trombone, or is it long gone at this point?

Walker: I still have it in my closet. The last time I picked it up, I believe, was right when I was about to leave for college.

Frierson: How did you keep busy during the spring and the early part of the summer before you came back to Athens?

Walker: All I did was work out — work out, sleep and recover. That’s it.

Frierson: Is that paying off now?

Walker: You can say that. I’m growing, but there’s always room for improvement.

Frierson: Last one, what was your best play in high school?

Walker: My best play that I can remember right off was against our rival at home, Griffin High School. It was a (defensive) play that we had been practicing all week and it was the first play of the game. I did my little read step and the quarterback still had the ball and I basically just chased him and slammed him over my shoulder, the first play of the game.

It being a rival and it being the first play, it made everybody excited, the stands were going crazy — it was just crazy. I don’t even know how to explain it. The adrenaline rush that you get in the moment, you can’t really explain it.

(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.