Boykin's Big Day

I just want to take a minute to provide a good "I told you so" on Brandon Boykin. His 100-yard kick return against South Carolina was the longest in Georgia history and his interception last week was the first (and still only) takeaway by the Georgia D. In two games at corner, he's played exquisitely.

I had heard for the past year how impressive Boykin looked at practice, how high he could jump and how natural his playmaking skills were, so calling his quick success on Saturdays wasn't actually all that difficult.

What has been a delightful surprise, however, is the MVP performances Boykin has turned in so far in after-practice interviews. As good as he is on the field, Boykin's personality is even better. Here's a taste of what he had to say Tuesday as the media peppered him with questions about his breakout performance against the Gamecocks.

On how he handled playing defense following his 100-yard kick return...
"I was just going off pure adrenaline after that. I need to get in better shape. I came out of the game, and I feel like there's always room for improvement."

On his sports history...
"Growing up I was a baseball player. I really liked Ken Griffey Jr. and I thought I was going to be a baseball player until I entered high school. Then I thought I was going to be a basketball player. Then I found out I was pretty good at football, so that worked out."

On his first public display of his leaping ability...
"Basketball I started in sixth grade. I went to the Tubby Smith camp my ninth-grade year and I started dunking before the game, and they told Tubby Smith. So he called me out before the game in front of the whole camp and I did a 360. That was the first time I really knew I could show out and dunk. So ever since then I've been dunking."

On the first time he dunked in basketball...
"It was ninth grade. I was like 5-8. Nobody believed me that I could dunk. I tried at my house because I had basketball goal outside my house, and I never could do it. Then, one day my friend threw me an alley-oop and I did it. I called my brother and was like, 'Hey, I dunked it.' ... The first real time in a game was my sophomore year."

On his interception....
"Throughout practice the concept that South Carolina ran, we practiced that the whole week. During the week, I was doing pretty good at getting depth and being able to outjump the ball and go up and get it. I told myself if I had the opportunity in a game, I had to take it. I saw the ball coming and it looked like it was coming in slow motion, like it was never going to get here. I grabbed it with my hands, and when I jumped, my leg cramped up. I was laying on the ground and everybody wondered what happened."

On which play -- the INT or the kick return -- that he liked better...
"Definitely the kickoff. I've never returned a kickoff for a touchdown. A hundred yards on the second kickoff, that's pretty great. I was pretty much speechless and it's still pretty surreal."

On his career goals...
"I used to want to be an architect but I'm not a mathematician. I like to read, but not really books. Like Sports Illustrated and stuff like that. I want to be a journalist."

You know, you read those first half-dozen quotes and you think, "Man, this kid's got a good head on his shoulders." And then he says he wants to be a journalist and I have to question my confidence in him. Here's hoping his football skills get him a job in the NFL before he ends up fighting me for quotes.