UGA Football: Frierson Chats With JT Daniels

As you might expect, Georgia quarterback JT Daniels has a favorite football movie. What that movie is, which he revealed during a Quick Chat after Wednesday’s practice, you probably wouldn’t expect.

It’s not “Remember the Titans” or “Friday Night Lights.” It’s not “The Waterboy” or “The Longest Yard,” two football comedies with Adam Sandler, or even the original “Longest Yard” with Burt Reynolds. No, Daniels’ favorite football film stars Andy Dick. Seriously.

A redshirt junior from Irvine, Calif., the 6-foot-3 and 210-pound Daniels in the two games he’s started this season has completed an exceptional 45 of 61 pass attempts (73.8%), for 438 yards and three touchdowns. All three of those TD passes came in last Saturday’s 40-13 win over South Carolina, with the scores going for 43, 38 and 4 yards.

Daniels won all four of his starts in 2020 and has won both this season heading into Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt. During our Quick Chat, he talked about movies, throwing to wideout George Pickens, his ability to remember plays, and much more. Here’s some of what he had to say:

Frierson: Do you have a favorite football movie?

Daniels: I want to say that “Division III: Football’s Finest” is all of our quarterbacks’ favorite football movie. It’s R-rated and definitely not one for the kids. I had a Netflix account and it just came up on there. “Division III: Football’s Finest” — if you’ve never seen it, it’s the most criminally underrated sports movie ever. It’s hilarious.

I do remember watching “Remember the Titans” when I was a kid, and as a kid that was probably my favorite football movie.

Frierson: What was it about “Division III: Football’s Finest”? I’ll admit that I haven’t heard of it before now. Is it a comedy?

Daniels: It’s Andy Dick. It’s a complete joke movie, a crazy, psycho coach being super funny while coaching a Division III football team. It’s awesome.

Frierson: Do you read many books about football? Are there some good quarterback autobiographies that stick with you?

Daniels: I read but not a lot about that. I watch stuff, like “The Football Life” on NFL Network. I also spend a lot of time on YouTube. “The Brady Six” is on YouTube and I’ll watch that before games sometimes.

Frierson: YouTube has everything, of course, so will you watch the collection videos, like every touchdown Peyton Manning ever threw?

Daniels: In high school I used to watch, someone put up every pass that Tom Brady ever threw, so I’ve seen every Tom Brady pass.

For my pregame, Trevor Moawad was one of my best friends and had been since I was an eighth-grader, and he had his production team make videos for me. I would watch those before every game.

[NOTE: Moawad was a Los Angeles-based sports psychologist who worked with Daniels for many years, and also did some work with Georgia after Kirby Smart took over as head coach. Moawad died earlier this month at age 48 after battling cancer.]

Unfortunately, I’ll never get another one. The last one I got, right before the Clemson game, was an all-time great one. I watched that before South Carolina and I’ll say I’m going to watch that before every game for the rest of my life.

Frierson: Do you do anything before games because of superstitions or …

Daniels: I have no superstitions whatsoever. I used to be, growing up, I always had superstitions. I really don’t know what it is that got me completely out of it. It was probably that we weren’t very good my freshman year in college (at USC) and I did the same superstitions that I always had, so clearly they didn’t work or mean anything.

Frierson: If I asked you what was your best pass ever, is there one that immediately comes to mind?

Daniels: The first one that came to my mind was, unfortunately, the only catchable pass I’ve ever seen George not catch, which is crazy because he’s got the best ball skills I’ve ever seen. Since I’ve been in college, he’s the best — probably the best football player I’ve ever seen.

It was Mississippi State (last season), second-and-10, and I actually didn’t get us in the right protection. Someone came free and I had to spin, step up, and threw a deep post to George over a safety. It’s the one that he didn’t catch and I’ve never seen someone so surprised they didn’t make a circus catch.

Frierson: Are you like Rams coach Sean McVay in that you can remember pretty much every play from every game you’ve been a part of?

Daniels: I probably remember almost every drive since my sophomore year of high school.

Frierson: Is that valuable or is it almost too much in your head?

Daniels: I think it’s very valuable. Well, is it really that valuable? I’m not sure, but I do have some sort of photographic memory when it comes to that. I’m photographic when it comes to football but that’s about it. I can see it once and I’ll never forget it.

Frierson: Have you watched the Peyton and Eli Manning version of “Monday Night Football”? As a guy that can’t get enough football, it would seem right up your alley.

Daniels: I’m sure I would like it because they’re so entertaining but I don’t ever watch football on TV, though. I don’t remember the last time I watched a whole game. I watch soccer and basketball. Soccer’s my favorite sport and basketball’s up there.

I don’t watch football on TV but I do watch a lot of NFL stuff on the NFL Films breakdown that we have. And I’ll watch highlights on YouTube now and then. I really don’t know what it is but I will watch soccer before I watch football, 10 out of 10 days.

(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.