Florida native Murray takes on the Gators
ATHENS –- In April 2008, near the end of his junior year in high school, Aaron Murray picked his side of the Georgia-Florida rivalry. Having narrowed his college choices from dozens of offers, the Tampa teenager turned down the home-state Gators and committed to the Bulldogs.
Some 2 1/2 years later, he is finally preparing to play in his first Georgia-Florida game Saturday in Jacksonville.
"Being from the state of Florida ... definitely makes it a little more special," Murray, Georgia's starting quarterback, said Tuesday. "I'm excited to head back there and play in front of a bunch of friends and family."
Although he grew up in Florida and often attended Gators games, Murray said he had an open mind from the start of the recruiting process. He seriously considered going cross-country to play for UCLA –- his mother "at first was really pushing Stanford," he said -– before the decision boiled down to Florida vs. Georgia.
"Both were great schools [with] great teams, great coaches, a lot of tradition," Murray said. "But in the end, it was just a gut feeling. In my heart, I just felt like Georgia was the place for me. ... When I came here, I didn't want to leave.
"I think Georgia is the perfect distance. It's not too close to home, but it's close enough that my parents can come to the games. And I've got family in Georgia."
An aunt, uncle and cousins live in Snellville.
"It's like a little rivalry between my aunt and uncle from Florida and my aunt and uncle who live in Georgia," Murray said. "They'd go back and forth during the recruiting process."
Murray said the Gator ties don't run too deeply in his family, noting that his father grew up in New York and his mother was born in Maine before moving to Miami as a child. Murray, however, was surrounded by Florida and Florida State fans in Tampa, "so there definitely was a lot of pressure," he said, to play college football in the state.
But, he said, "It was not like people hated me because I committed to Georgia."
Beating out the Gators for Murray, who was ranked the No. 3 quarterback prospect in the nation at the time by Scout.com and Rivals.com, was a recruiting coup for Georgia.
"I know Florida wanted him and I know that was definitely a very exciting thing for him to think about," coach Mark Richt recalled. "I'm not exactly sure what the turning point was. I think he really enjoyed Coach Bobo [UGA offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo] and myself. I think he trusted us to develop him into the quarterback he wants to be.
"And I think he probably looked at the depth chart and felt like the opportunity would be a good one for him. It just turned out to be a really good fit. ... He decided pretty quick and stayed true to his word."
When Murray visited Florida, he spent a lot of time with the Gators' Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback, Tim Tebow. Another quarterback in the Gators' program at the time was Cam Newton, now at Auburn and a leading Heisman contender.
Murray, a redshirt freshman, has played well in his first season as Georgia's starter, throwing 12 touchdown passes vs. three interceptions and compiling a pass efficiency rating of 157, which is fifth best in the SEC and 21st best in the nation. Richt doesn't want Murray to try to do more amid the hype of the Georgia-Florida game.
"I just want to encourage him to focus on his job and just do what he's been doing every week," Richt said.
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
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