Image: ESPN

Matthew Stafford penned an article in Sunday’s Athens Banner-Herald bidding farewell to UGA, the fans and the Athens community.

One thing I found kind of interesting was what he chose to mention as the most memorable moments of his career as a Georgia Bulldog:

Mikey Henderson’s touchdown catch in overtime to beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, our celebration and 42-30 win over Florida and the “Blackout” against Auburn in 2007 were some of my all-time favorite moments.

All from 2007, an incredible year for Georgia Football. Odd, that it produced no championships for the trophy case, but unique in the multitude of special moments it contained.

My preference out of those he lists is the Auburn game. Easy, I know, but that is the one I experienced in person. I’ve been to many games in Sanford Stadium but none has match the electricity of that night. The black jerseys, the tradition of the Auburn rivalry, combined with the victory over the hated Gators two weeks previous, added up to create a euphoric intensity that managed to envelope even the television announcers, Gary Danielson and Verne Lunquist of CBS.

Then, he informs us know that letting go wasn’t easy:

It was probably the toughest decision of my life to decide to leave Georgia a year early and enter the NFL Draft. But similar to my dreams of being a quarterback in college, I have also always dreamed of being a quarterback in the NFL and I felt like this was my best opportunity to make that second dream come true. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t already miss things I had gotten used to in Athens and with our team.

Personally, I feel like the grind of 2008 took it’s toll on Stafford. The failure to meet the lofty expectations, the injuries to his OL, the ugly way the team lost when it was on the sport’s biggest stage, all contributed to the recognition of how uniquely special the 2007 season was… and how unlikely it was to be repeated.

After all, it is hard to imagine his stock being much higher, and there is no guarantee that 2009 wouldn’t be a tougher year than 2008. Additionally, he leaves with the comfort of knowing that the program will be left in the capable hands of Joe Cox.

As much as you may want to stay somewhere, sometimes it is just time to go.