April 15, 2015
By Jon Cooper
The Good Word
At 6-1, 196, Micheal Summers isn’t the biggest guy on Georgia Tech’s receiving corps but he may turn out to be the biggest when the Yellow Jackets open their season Sept. 3, against Alcorn State at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
He certainly has loomed large during spring practice.
The Jackets’ leading returning receiver (15 catches, 245 yards), Summers would like to build on his 2014 season, when he started the first five games then the final two, catching seven passes for 35 yards — two each in the season opener against Wofford, the ACC home opener against Miami then in the Orange Bowl against Mississippi State (he also had a catch against Duke). Ideally, he’d like to be more of a workhorse, seeing the kind of action and footballs that he saw in 2013, as a redshirt freshman, when he made 11 starts and caught 10 passes with an average of 21.1 yards per catch.
He’s expecting to come up big and help the Jackets fill the big shoes of last year’s top receivers DeAndre Smelter and Darren Waller.
The Statesboro, Ga., native recently spent some time talking with The Good Word about ways he feels he’s helped himself during the offseason, how he’s already helped the team and the way he’s gone about helping the entire Georgia Tech student body.
FIRST DOWN: How do you feel about yourself and the team heading into Friday’s Spring Game?
Micheal Summers: We’re excited about the Spring Game, excited to get out there and get in front of the fans and show them what we’ve been working hard for all spring.
SECOND DOWN: Where did you want to get better heading into this season?
SUMMERS: I wanted to get better in running routes, getting off press coverage, doing drills, doing different ball drills, catching the ball, just building my relationship with [quarterback] Justin [Thomas] as well as the other receivers, Ricky Jeune, Antonio Messick; just us as a whole, getting closer and noticing each other’s strengths and noticing each other’s weaknesses and building off that.
THIRD DOWN: How would you describe your relationship with Justin?
SUMMERS: It’s been good. We both came in together in the recruiting process, we were roommates my redshirt freshman year, and we’ve been building a good relationship in the past offseason and going into the summer.
FOURTH DOWN: You haven’t mentioned your blocking. Are you happy where you are with that?
SUMMERS: We have to do that first. Blocking is all a mindset. You have to give max effort and when it comes down to blocking, the better you block, the more you open up the opportunity to get a chance to catch the ball and make plays in the field.
EXTRA POINT: How long have you been a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board (SAAB) and what does serving on the Board mean to you?
SUMMERS: I’ve been on it now for almost a year. Growing up I was always taught to be unselfish. SAAB has taught me to do that, with just giving back to the community and doing different community service events. I believe that it’s not always about me. I always like to give back.
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