Pregame Routines Are Different For Everyone
August 29, 2025 | Football, Soccer, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Georgia running back Cash Jones admits to being superstitious when it comes to getting ready for a football game. Every Thursday and Saturday of game weeks — Friday is a wild-card day — the redshirt senior follows the exact same routine.
There are some very specific things he does as he's getting ready on Saturdays, like three strokes of his deodorant under one arm and four under the other. The number has to add up to seven.
"I don't know why, but I always did seven — seven was the important number," Jones said this week as the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs prepare to open their season Saturday against Marshall at Sanford Stadium.
Other parts of Jones' Saturday routine are having two Hawaiian rolls, some steak, and a Red Bull. He also flosses before each game. On Thursdays, he sits in the same seat every time when the offense gets together to watch film, and he grabs a blue Powerade.
"I hold it up with my left hand and twist off the top with my right," he said. "And when I go eat dinner, I have steak with potatoes and green beans every Thursday."
Every player in every sport has their own pregame routine. They vary as much as the players themselves, but music is often at the heart of what they do each gameday.
Jones said the first song he listens to as he's getting ready is by Juice Wrld. After that, he hits shuffle on his playlist for the short bus ride from the football facility to Sanford Stadium.
This will be Jones' fifth season with the Bulldogs — he and offensive lineman Micah Morris are the only players on the roster who were with the team for the 2021 and '22 national championships — and one thing has remained the same throughout his career. He gets goosebumps every time he goes through the Dawg Walk.
"As soon as we get to the Dawg Walk, I start getting chills. It happens every time, once Coach (Kirby) Smart tells us we can start walking and everybody starts cheering. It just gives me the shivers," said Jones, who has played in 40 career games heading into this season.
At the other end of the experience spectrum is soccer freshman Mya Townes, who has helped the No. 13-ranked Bulldogs get off to a 4-1 start this fall. By her own admission, the forward's pregame routine "is a lengthy one."
"I have the same playlist I listen to before every game. It starts with Jay-Z and it ends with Jay-Z, but in the middle there are gospel songs and just songs that help me get my breathing right and center myself a little bit," Townes said.
Townes has pregame handshake routines with almost everyone on the team. She also writes messages on the tape around each wrist, "so that I can look down and be like, All right, I got this." And she's meticulous about how she writes each message.
"Everything has to be written in the exact same order before every game," she said.
Townes' teammate, senior midfielder Juliauna Hayward, said she's more of a free-wheeling person, so she doesn't have many set routines before each game. However, "I must shower before every single game," she said.
"I also have to have my socks three inches above my knee," she said. "They can't go lower, ever. Maybe it will change in the future, but not right now. I'm also a Christian, so for me, praying before every game is important. I'll go on my knee before the kickoff, even if it's the shortest prayer, I have to pray before every game."
Sophomore Justin Williams starts each football Saturday by playing some worship music, followed by a shower and waking up his roommate, fellow linebacker Chris Cole. Once he gets to the stadium, it's time for an R&B playlist, followed by "some rap music to get my mind juiced up," he said.
"I actually started doing that in high school," Williams said of his music routine.. "I like listening to the calm music, and then right before the game starts, I get crunk."
Most players like to listen to music, but what kind varies wildly. Some players prefer something fast-paced or loud to get them fired up, while others prefer something that will help them keep calm and relaxed before they take the field.
"I'm kind of winding my way to the 'get fired up' part," junior wide receiver London Humphreys said. "It might be country music; just enjoying myself and relaxing, and then as we get closer to games, there are certain songs that you go, OK, now I'm excited and ready to go."
One song that always gets Humphreys fired up is "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. The song was released in 1985, 20 years before Humphreys was born.
"It's been more of a recent song that's gotten me fired up for scrimmages or practice," he said. "I switch it up a lot, but that one will always be played at some point."
The bottom line with any pregame routine is, whatever works for you. As Crash Davis explained in the movie "Bull Durham" almost 40 years ago, "a player on a streak has to respect the streak." If elaborate handshakes, a specific song, or putting deodorant on in a very specific way get you ready to play your best, then have at it.Â
Staff Writer
Georgia running back Cash Jones admits to being superstitious when it comes to getting ready for a football game. Every Thursday and Saturday of game weeks — Friday is a wild-card day — the redshirt senior follows the exact same routine.
There are some very specific things he does as he's getting ready on Saturdays, like three strokes of his deodorant under one arm and four under the other. The number has to add up to seven.
"I don't know why, but I always did seven — seven was the important number," Jones said this week as the No. 5-ranked Bulldogs prepare to open their season Saturday against Marshall at Sanford Stadium.
Other parts of Jones' Saturday routine are having two Hawaiian rolls, some steak, and a Red Bull. He also flosses before each game. On Thursdays, he sits in the same seat every time when the offense gets together to watch film, and he grabs a blue Powerade.
"I hold it up with my left hand and twist off the top with my right," he said. "And when I go eat dinner, I have steak with potatoes and green beans every Thursday."
Every player in every sport has their own pregame routine. They vary as much as the players themselves, but music is often at the heart of what they do each gameday.
Jones said the first song he listens to as he's getting ready is by Juice Wrld. After that, he hits shuffle on his playlist for the short bus ride from the football facility to Sanford Stadium.
This will be Jones' fifth season with the Bulldogs — he and offensive lineman Micah Morris are the only players on the roster who were with the team for the 2021 and '22 national championships — and one thing has remained the same throughout his career. He gets goosebumps every time he goes through the Dawg Walk.
"As soon as we get to the Dawg Walk, I start getting chills. It happens every time, once Coach (Kirby) Smart tells us we can start walking and everybody starts cheering. It just gives me the shivers," said Jones, who has played in 40 career games heading into this season.
At the other end of the experience spectrum is soccer freshman Mya Townes, who has helped the No. 13-ranked Bulldogs get off to a 4-1 start this fall. By her own admission, the forward's pregame routine "is a lengthy one."
"I have the same playlist I listen to before every game. It starts with Jay-Z and it ends with Jay-Z, but in the middle there are gospel songs and just songs that help me get my breathing right and center myself a little bit," Townes said.
Townes has pregame handshake routines with almost everyone on the team. She also writes messages on the tape around each wrist, "so that I can look down and be like, All right, I got this." And she's meticulous about how she writes each message.
"Everything has to be written in the exact same order before every game," she said.
Townes' teammate, senior midfielder Juliauna Hayward, said she's more of a free-wheeling person, so she doesn't have many set routines before each game. However, "I must shower before every single game," she said.
"I also have to have my socks three inches above my knee," she said. "They can't go lower, ever. Maybe it will change in the future, but not right now. I'm also a Christian, so for me, praying before every game is important. I'll go on my knee before the kickoff, even if it's the shortest prayer, I have to pray before every game."
Sophomore Justin Williams starts each football Saturday by playing some worship music, followed by a shower and waking up his roommate, fellow linebacker Chris Cole. Once he gets to the stadium, it's time for an R&B playlist, followed by "some rap music to get my mind juiced up," he said.
"I actually started doing that in high school," Williams said of his music routine.. "I like listening to the calm music, and then right before the game starts, I get crunk."
Most players like to listen to music, but what kind varies wildly. Some players prefer something fast-paced or loud to get them fired up, while others prefer something that will help them keep calm and relaxed before they take the field.
"I'm kind of winding my way to the 'get fired up' part," junior wide receiver London Humphreys said. "It might be country music; just enjoying myself and relaxing, and then as we get closer to games, there are certain songs that you go, OK, now I'm excited and ready to go."
One song that always gets Humphreys fired up is "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits. The song was released in 1985, 20 years before Humphreys was born.
"It's been more of a recent song that's gotten me fired up for scrimmages or practice," he said. "I switch it up a lot, but that one will always be played at some point."
The bottom line with any pregame routine is, whatever works for you. As Crash Davis explained in the movie "Bull Durham" almost 40 years ago, "a player on a streak has to respect the streak." If elaborate handshakes, a specific song, or putting deodorant on in a very specific way get you ready to play your best, then have at it.Â
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.
Players Mentioned
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