Korine Talkington, Southeast Bulloch flag football quarterback
Today’s interviewee is Southeast Bulloch flag football quarterback Korine Talkington, who signed Wednesday to play at Campbellsville University, an NAIA school in Kentucky. Flag football has been Georgia’s fastest-growing high school sport since the GHSA sanctioned it for championship play in 2020. Southeast Bulloch formed a varsity team in 2021 and is 52-0 with two state titles. Talkington has played in every Southeast Bulloch game. She became the full-time quarterback this year and has thrown for 2,980 yards and 55 touchdowns in her career. Campbellsville is among 23 NAIA schools that field a team. The Atlanta Falcons have hosted the NAIA Women's Flag Football Finals at Mercedes-Benz Stadium the past three seasons. Ottawa of Kansas defeated Thomas University of Thomasville for the championship at the most recent one in May.
1. Can you tell us about how you got into flag football? Did you play any sports before it, and how has it changed your life and perspective? “I’ve been playing sports my whole life. I played soccer since I was 4, then got into basketball a little bit. In high school I’ve played volleyball, tennis, basketball and soccer. I also have four brothers, so we always used to play football in the backyard. And I always wanted to play [tackle] football, but my parents never let me. When our school said they were starting a flag football team, that was my chance. And the coach [Marci Cochran] was my basketball coach in middle school, so she knew I was athletic. So I went out there to try out. That’s how it got started. It’s really changed my life for the better honestly because I created bonds that I wouldn’t have had without flag football. And I wouldn’t be playing college sports if it wasn’t for flag football. I just signed yesterday. There’s only about 28 schools that have flag football right now, but the number grows every year. It’ll definitely increase.”
2. How does flag football recruiting usually work? What will be your major? “It really depends on the college. If the college really wants you, they’ll reach out. It doesn’t happen very often. They all have a Twitter account with recruiting forms on there, and you fill it out. If they’re interested, they’ll text you and talk to you, and that’s kind of what happened. I did a couple of recruiting forms and they [different colleges] got back to me, but Campbellsville got back to me really quick. And the coach [Chris Kidwell] was really interested in me and wanted me to visit that week. My family went up to Kentucky and my friend is on that flag football team, and it just kind of went from there and it was really quick. I felt at home on the campus, and it was really nice. I’m majoring in physical education and minoring in athletic coaching.”
3. What do you think are your strengths and weaknesses in the sport? “I’ll start with my weaknesses. My weakness is definitely trying to not get frustrated when I make a bad pass. Since I’m the quarterback, everyone looks at the quarterback when they make a bad throw or whatever. So I just have to focus on forgetting about the last play and shaking it off. The NFL teams invite us [flag teams and players] to a bunch of stuff, so we went to Jacksonville and they had a former NFL player there who said that he was a quarterback. And the thing he always used to think about was being a goldfish, like you have to forget what happened in the last play and remain the same throughout. So that really stuck with me. Reading the defense is one of my strengths. I used to struggle with it.
“As for advice, I would definitely tell people to play flag football. It’s definitely changed my life and my friends’ lives. And it’s just a super fun sport that’ll take you places if you’re really committed. Flag football has been an amazing opportunity. It’s changing women’s sports every day, and it’s growing. It’s just amazing to see and be a part of it.”
4. Who’s your favorite athlete of all time and how has that person impacted you? “Kyrie Irving. Ever since I was a kid, I liked him. He was always smaller, and I’m kind of smaller. He always finds a way to do all the things he does, and he inspired me.”
