UGA Football: Frierson Chats With Oscar Delp
Staff Writer
Oscar Delp has found a superstition hack. The 6-foot-5 and 245-pound Georgia tight end has decided that his superstition is to not be superstitious any longer.
“I feel like superstitions, if something messed up, then it’s going to mess my whole game up, so I kind of just cut all of that out,” he said.
A sophomore from Cumming, Ga., Delp was a great prep lacrosse player at West Forsyth High School. In fact, until Delp’s football career took off later in high school, he thought lacrosse was the sport he’d likely play in college.
Delp’s father, Chris, played lacrosse at Rutgers, and his son would have been happy to follow in his footsteps. But then came his junior year of high school, when Delp, being used in numerous ways similar to how Georgia has used star tight end Brock Bowers the past to seasons, caught 43 passes and averaged 17 yards a catch. As a senior, he caught 59 passes for 923 yards.
Coming to Georgia was always going to be an adjustment, especially knowing that the Bulldogs last season had Bowers, who went on to win the Mackey Award as the nation’s top tight end, and Darnell Washington, the 6-7 and 270-pound beast. Bowers led the Bulldogs in 2022 with 63 catches, Washington was fourth on the team with 28, and Delp finished his freshman season with five reception. His first career catch was a 28-yarder for a touchdown against South Carolina.
During a recent Quick Chat, Delp talked about how across has helped him in football, what it’s like to go from being the centerpiece of an offense to a reserve role, wanting to get into television when he’s done playing, and more. Here’s some of what he had to say:
Frierson: What was the best part of your summer?
Delp: Probably just being here, getting to come back and see all of the guys again. I really love being here and just hanging out with all of the players, and getting back into that groove of things. All of the team runs, they stink and everything, but when you’re out there with your brothers, it kind of makes it fun.
Frierson: Is it fair to say those runs are way more bearable when you’re doing them with the team versus on your own?
Delp: Yeah, I think about that all of the time. Just being out there with everyone, you look over and see someone struggling just as much as you, it makes you go a little bit harder.
I remember when I was at home, I was doing some of our offseason training. I was doing them (the runs), but they were just not fun at all. It’s easy to want to quit when you’re alone and not do it, but when you’ve got everyone there with you, it goes by a lot faster.
Frierson: Is there one guy that’s taken the lead as far as the top leader or motivator?
Delp: For a team leader, Sedrick Van Pran’s always been that guy. He’s been pushing everyone in all of the runs and everything. And Brock just does it by example, basically winning every single rep.
Frierson: We all can see what Brock does on a football field, but off it he seems like such a regular dude that doesn’t much bare for the spotlight. Is that how you would describe him? You may see another side to him that the rest of us don’t get to see.
Delp: There’s definitely another side to him that people he hangs around with on the team get to see. He’s just a normal dude and a fun guy to hang out with outside of the football stuff. When we’re not on the football field, you wouldn’t think he played football — just the way he talks to us and hangs out with us. He’s a great guy and someone I’m glad to be able to hang out with and be around.
Frierson: We you always the tallest kid in your classes, or did you have a big growth spurt at some point?
Delp: I feel like I’ve always been the bigger guy. Growing up, I’d usually stick how. Last year I didn’t feel that big, just being around these guys. I had to put on a lot of weight and now I’m feeling kind of big again. I don’t know, it’s definitely an adjustment when you get to somewhere like Georgia, where everyone on the line is like 6-6. I line up next to Mims (offensive lineman Amarius Mims, listed at 6-7 and 340 pounds) and I’m like, all right, I’m small again [laughs].
It definitely takes some getting used to, but it’s great to have guys like that on the team.
Frierson: What is the adjustment like when you go from being a focal point of your high school offense, catching a ton of passes, to a backup role? How hard is it to have to watch from the sideline?
Delp: It was definitely difficult. No one wants to come to a school and not to do what they dream of doing their first year, but I knew what I had coming. I came to Georgia for a reason, to develop and these next two years play a bigger role. And as I keep doing well, doing better, that role just keeps on growing. That’s what I’m hoping for, that the growth in the offseason and everything that I learned last year, I can apply it this year and play a bigger role on this team.
Frierson: Is there one way in particular that your lacrosse background helps you on the football field?
Delp: I think just running and changing direction. In lacrosse, you’re always running, you’re nonstop, and it’s definitely something where when we’re doing two-minute or just out there for a long time, it definitely helps me be used to that a little bit more. I guess running, changing direction, hand-eye coordination, it all comes into play.
Frierson: Do you still pick up a lacrosse stick every once in a while?
Delp: Yeah, both of my younger brothers still play. My dad played at Rutgers, so we’re a big lacrosse family. When I go home and they’re throwing it around or something, I’ll definitely get in there.
Frierson: In a perfect world, what are you doing in 10 years?
Delp: Ten years, maybe just getting out of football, hopefully, or still playing. Hopefully I’ll have enough money from playing football that I can do whatever I want. I love “SportsCenter” and SEC Network, and that’s one thing I want to do, talk on TV. I definitely would love to be a part of “College GameDay” one day, or be on SEC Network.
Frierson: Do you have any specific pregame rituals? Are you superstitious?
Delp: I kind of cut all of my superstitions out. I feel like superstitions, if something messed up then it’s going to mess my whole game up, so I kind of just cut all of that out. Now, my superstition is to be superstitious. I just kind of go with the flow now.
When every season starts, I feel like something ends up becoming a habit, but I won’t know until the season starts. It kind of resets every year.
(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.