CHIEF BORDERS: Proving That Athletes Can Take Tough Courses – and Still ‘Ball Out!’

By KYLE. CURTIS

GatorBaitMedia.com

‘Florida is the best of both worlds. Stellar in football, stellar academics, top five university in the country, you can’t beat that. For me while I was being recruited, you had to have an education system. It had to be just as stellar and that is why it came down to Stanford and the University of Florida.’

Chief Borders is a 6-foot-5, 242-pound redshirt-freshman linebacker out of Carrollton, GA. He appeared in four games his freshman season before ultimately getting redshirted. A four-star out of high school, Borders will be competing for snaps this year as well. In addition to appearing in four games, Borders was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll.

Question: Talk about your experience with Gator Collective and why it would be a good fit for you.

Answer: “Being a part of Gator Collective is just something you don’t get to do on a day-to-day basis, interacting with fans, just knowing you have that support system and making their day just by saying hey to them. Being their bright spot on what they’re going through on a day-to-day basis, it’s always a bonus.”

Question: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself.

Answer: “Chief Borders is a strong, intelligent black man who grew up in Chicago, Illinois. I’m the youngest out of eight, growing up in Chicago and then having to move to Georgia was a whole different transition between a lot of adversity and being able to react to South football. I graduated with a 4.2 GPA coming out of high school, AP/Honors classes, academics was never a crazy thing, and I was blessed to be intelligent. I just switched my major from biology to Pre PA and I’m now taking anatomy, grinding it out. I have always been a happy individual and been a reason for someone to smile.”

Question: How much does being successful in the classroom help you on the football field?

Answer: “It’s just all about me paving the way, that’s how I think about it. I think about the people coming after me, and I learn from the people that came before me. Student-athletes think they can’t take on these hard majors, no. If you want it, you can go get it and make time for the things you want. If your passion and your heart is there, go out and attack, go above and beyond to get the job done but at the end of the day you’re going to look back and smile.”

Question: Why did you choose Florida?

Answer: “Florida is the best of both worlds. Stellar in football, stellar academics, top five university in the country, you can’t beat that. For me while I was being recruited, you had to have an education system. It had to be just as stellar and that is why it came down to Stanford and the University of Florida. Stanford was my dream school growing up, I always cherished them. Richard Sherman was a huge factor in my life, I always looked up to him because he looked like me. Then I got down to it and I got admitted and went through the process and Florida just always had that aura about themselves that they had both for me. I could see myself balling out on the football field and balling out in the classroom. That’s why I chose Florida because we truly are the best of both worlds.”

Question: What is your ideal linebacker position?

Answer: “As far as right, it’s the Sam and the Jet. (In the) Sam, we go 21 personnel, two tight ends, one running back, and we are just that boundary outside linebacker.”

Question: What was it like being the youngest of eight and having a family that size?

Answer: “My siblings have always had my back; they’ve always believed in me. They paved the way for me to do the best I possibly can do. They are still in the Midwest in Chicago. We have a big family; my dad is the 10th out of 12. Of course, I got picked on, I had five brothers like “come on!”