ATHENS, Ga. — If you're a Georgia Bulldogs fan and happen to see Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford at the airport or out at a restaurant, you might want to hold back on telling him, "Go Dawgs!"
While making a guest appearance on Barstool Sports podcast Pardon My Take on Monday, Stafford talked about his time at the University of Georgia, including his favorite and least favorite games he ever played.
But the question that sparked interest online in the UGA community is when Pardon My Take hosts Dan Katz, known most famously as Big Cat, and Eric Sollenberger, best known as PFT Commenter, asked the former Georgia QB if he called the Dawgs (a Georgia tradition) or barked at fans when they tell him "Go Dawgs."
Stafford explained that it makes him uneasy when Georgia fans do that to him in public.
"You know, I actually get wildly uncomfortable when people bark at me, or they'll be walking down the street, and they'll be like, 'Go Dawgs!' and I'm like, 'Yeah...' I don't ever give them the 'Go Dawgs' back. It just doesn't sit right with me. I don't know why," Stafford said.
PFT Commenter then commented to Stafford how he will see videos of flights that are packed with Georgia fans going across the country to road games and the fans will bark at the pilots when he boards the plane.
"Yeah, 'Go Dawgs,' screaming at me. I'm like, 'Guys, uh, thanks,'" Stafford said.
Stafford was then told by Big Cat that he needed to start barking back. "Just a little bark," Katz said.
"Yeah, I need to. I know, I need to," Stafford said. "My wife is from Georgia, so like, I gotta make her proud."
Stafford then recalled his favorite games he played while quarterbacking for Georgia and his least favorite. His favorite memory was between two iconic games in Georgia football lore.
"Probably two. We had the blackout versus Auburn my sophomore year, which was the first time we ever wore black jerseys. It was sweet- we had a great game . . . and then Sugar Bowl that year against Hawaii was really cool. Felt like we should've been in the national championship game that year -- we kind of got jumped because we didn't go to the SEC Championship."
"Least favorite game -- probably at Kentucky my freshman year. Got my helmet ripped off on a QB run on third down (and) kept running. Smashed in the forehead, nose cut, the whole thing. And we lost, so I had the loss and just a mauled face for a couple weeks, which was a tough one," Stafford said.
You can watch the full interview with Stafford here.
