UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Azeez Ojulari

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

When the Georgia football team is off this Saturday, outside linebacker Azeez Ojulari plans to head home to Marietta, Ga., for some family time and some relaxing hours spent watching the games on TV.

The 6-foot-3 and 240-pound junior leads the fourth-ranked Bulldogs with 6.0 tackles for loss, including 3.0 sacks. During a Quick Chat after practice Tuesday, Ojulari talked about putting last week’s loss at Alabama behind him, enjoying the Saturday off, Halloween and much more.

Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: How quickly can you move on from the previous week’s game, whether it’s a win or a loss? Over the years have you developed a way to put it in the rearview mirror and move forward?

Ojulari: Yeah, it’s just knowing that we’ve got plenty more opportunities in front of us to get better and shake that loss off. It’s just great knowing that we’ve still got these opportunities, so you can really shake that off and learn from it, and be ready to improve off of it.

Frierson: You’ve got an unexpected off Saturday this weekend, after the schedule change, so are you going to do anything fun with it or just put your feet up and watch other teams play?

Ojulari: I’ll definitely be putting my feet up, for sure, and watching other teams play. I’ll probably go back home and see the fam, and just relax with my mom, get some home-cooked meals real quick.

Frierson: I remember the last time we did one of these, you talked a lot about your mom’s cooking and the Nigerian food she made. During the shutdown this spring when you were home, were you kind of in paradise because you got to eat her cooking every day?

Ojulari: It definitely was, man, it was great. Getting those meals every single day [laughs], it was great. It was phenomenal.

Frierson: What did you get better at during the shutdown, when you suddenly found yourself with a lot more free time than you expected?

Ojulari: Really, I was just working on technique, ball get-off, stretching more, and I was definitely lifting the whole time, and running too. I was mostly working on little things like ball get-off and stuff like that.

Frierson: What about away from football?

Ojulari: Throughout quarantine, not really. There was a lot of stuff shut down so I didn’t really do that much. I was really just chilling.

Frierson: Did you have a favorite Halloween costume when you were a kid?

Ojulari: Actually, me and my family, we never really celebrated Halloween. My mom would just get us candy and we’d just chill at the house. We might watch Disney movies, but we never went trick-or-treating.

Frierson: Well, as long as you got the candy, right?

Ojulari: Yeah, that’s right [laughs].

Frierson: If you could travel anywhere in the world on somebody else’s dime, where would you like to go?

Ojulari: I’d probably go to Hawaii right now, just to feel the breeze, the water, the beach, just to get away and relax. Who would I take? I’d probably take my brother.

Frierson: Who was the first football player you really looked up to?

Ojulari: When I started playing, I had a lot that I looked up to. I really liked Von Miller, he was one of the ones I was really watching.

Frierson: Did you ever play on the offensive side of the ball?

Ojulari: I played a little bit when I was 10, I played running back [laughs]. That was really it, though.

Frierson: It seems like you could have been a pretty amazing running back or tight end.

Ojulari: Yeah, I was like the biggest kid out there.

Frierson: If you could play any other sport for Georgia, what would it be?

Ojulari: I would definitely say basketball. I was more like a defender, I could block shots, I could dunk, run the floor and lay it up.

Frierson: Have you learned to be a good online student?

Ojulari: Oh, yeah, definitely. It’s way better, to me, to be honest, because you’ve got more time. There’s way more time than going to class and riding the bus and doing all that.

Frierson: Do you miss being on campus and feeling like a regular college student?

Ojulari: I can do miss that, I’m not going to lie. It’s kind of weird not seeing anyone and being at the house.

Frierson: I talked to Richard LeCounte about this the other day after watching the NBA Finals: How do you think you would have handled being in the bubble like the NBA was? On one hand you could totally focus on your sport, but on the other hand you’re kind of locked away from the world for a few months.

Ojulari: That would be tough because you’re in the bubble all day and can’t go anywhere. That would be tough, but for the love of the game it’s worth doing.

Frierson: Do you watch a lot of sports on TV?

Ojulari: Yeah, my TV is usually on one of the sports channels. I was watching when the Braves lost the other night and that was tough.

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

Ojulari: Probably swimming because I can’t swim [laughs].

Frierson: What’s something old-school that you’re really into?

Ojulari: Probably movies, like some old movies. Movies like “ATL” or old Disney movies like “Halloweentown,” that’s a good one. “Aladdin” is another one.

(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.