ATLANTA — Georgia Tech is one of the top colleges in the country for academics. Fifteen percent of those who graduate do so with their Ph.D., according to the school. Within that small percentage: a Georgia Tech football player.
Henry Freer is the starting long snapper for Georgia Tech. He's a Ph.D. student in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. It's the questions from his teammates that usually provide the most curiosity.
"A lot of times they don't quite understand what's happening, or they ask, 'What's that?'" Freer joked. "A lot of people ask me how I even have time for that."
Freer is believed to be the only football player in Georgia Tech history to pursue their doctorate while also playing football. When other students and teachers meet Henry and hear about his accomplishment their reactions are amazement, mixed with a little shock.
"'Can you help me with my homework, or what are you doing all day?' Something along those lines," Freer joked about requests from teammates trying to figure out how he juggles being a Ph.D. student and playing football..
"Sometimes I have lab mates or people in classes who are trying to text me about projects or labs on game day -- on the way to the game -- and I have to turn my phone off and say, 'I'll talk to you tomorrow,'" he added.
Freer played high school football at Woodward Academy, but in college, he was solely focused on academics until his senior year.
"May of my Senior year, I got the call from the coaches at the time and they said, 'Hey, I know you did it in high school. Would you have any interest in doing it for Georgia Tech?'" Freer recounted.
"I wasn't planning on it," he added. "I was planning on being a student and doing engineering. I thought, 'never turn down an opportunity that could be a great chance to do something really cool,' and here I am."
Freer admitted he is juggling a lot on and off the football field.
"Yeah, it's definitely a lot," he said. "It's just a huge thanks to all the people, the coaches and the academic side that really just helped make things easier on me and help me do all the things that I want to do. Then a lot of time management and just being efficient and prioritizing."
In the midst of his collegiate journey, Freer said he hopes his teammates can learn something from him as well: "If you put your mind to something, you can definitely do it. Here at Georgia Tech, there's nothing you can't do if you really want to do it and put the work in."
Tech just finished their spring schedule and now will look forward to a second fall with Brent Key at the helm for the Yellow Jackets.