Murray: Fairley made me contemplate quitting

[WFE12 9,191]

Aaron Murray: Auburn’s Nick Fairley made me contemplate quitting football

Andrew Olson - Saturday Down South

Former Auburn defender Nick Fairley was an absolute beast on the football field. He laid some vicious hits, sometimes illegally. Former Georgia QB Aaron Murray took such a pounding against Fairley’s Tigers in 2010 that he considered hanging up his cleats.

Murray recently visited WJOX 94.5 FM’s “3 Man Front,” and reflected on his memories of facing Fairley and the Tigers in The Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry.

“If he did that outside the football field, he’d have been in jail for three years. … That was actually the first time in my life I was like ‘I don’t know if I want to play football anymore.’ I’m not kidding either,” Murray recalled. “I was on the sideline, and I had six stitches; my jersey’s covered in blood; I had a fractured sternum and can’t feel the left side of my body. I got whiplash in my neck, and I can’t really move my neck. I was like ‘Is this really worth it? It’s my freshman year, I can quit now and save myself a lot of punishment.’

“I had to sit up sleeping the next two weeks. I couldn’t even lay down. It was tough.”

Fairley’s hits angered the Bulldogs and one offensive lineman retaliated in a memorable way.

“Ben Jones ripped the dreads off the middle linebacker’s head. … I’m in the huddle and have a fractured sternum (from Fairley’s hit), Ben hands me the dreads in the middle of the huddle. I’m like, ‘Ben, what do you want me to do with these?’ I have to call a play in like 10 seconds. So, he sticks them in his pants, and then, at his house in Athens, he attached it to the ceiling fan,” Murray told the show.

Murray, of course, stuck with football and went on to become the SEC’s all-time leader in passing yards (13,166) and touchdowns (121).

[Tiger 8,818]

Lmao wasn't too much longer till the NFL made that decision for him

[Gowebb11 9,313]

2 hours ago, WFE12 said:

Ben Jones ripped the dreads off the middle linebacker’s head. … I’m in the huddle and have a fractured sternum (from Fairley’s hit), Ben hands me the dreads in the middle of the huddle

Murray was assaulted by Fairley. Of course, UGA ripping the dreads from our players head was perfectly ok. Right....👌🏼

[aujeff11 6,243]

1 hour ago, Gowebb11 said:

Murray was assaulted by Fairley. Of course, UGA ripping the dreads from our players head was perfectly ok. Right....👌🏼

Ben Jones was the dog’s name that did that.

He had a dirty reputation as well. He tried chopping at his legs all game: 

 

 Fairley was Fairley. He doesn’t have to apologize for that night. Who has to apologize to Murray is every OL that let Fairley whoop him up and down the field. 

 

[gr82be 14,422]

Facts: Fairley was a beast and injuries happen in football. When you are the guy that handles the football on 60-70 snaps per game your odds of injury are greater than everyone else's. Such is the quarterbacks life. Maybe he should have been a kicker. 

[alexava 6,973]

There was only one dirty or late hit by fairley in this game that I remember. I don’t think we’ll see another DT that dominant. But he was not even as good as D Brown the season before. If DB improves that much, watch out!

[Barnacle 9,064]

45 minutes ago, alexava said:

There was only one dirty or late hit by fairley in this game that I remember. I don’t think we’ll see another DT that dominant. But he was not even as good as D Brown the season before. If DB improves that much, watch out!

Don't think Brown has the amount of nasty that Fairley had, even with all the talent. Fairley wasn't content with a sack; he wanted to hurt you. Most of the time, he was smart enough to play on the edge of what was legal. Occasionally, he crossed the line. The late spear to Murray's back is what comes to mind from that game, and I don't blame UGA for hating him for it, honestly. It was a dirty, dirty shot.

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

3 hours ago, Gowebb11 said:

Murray was assaulted by Fairley. Of course, UGA ripping the dreads from our players head was perfectly ok. Right....👌🏼

There isn't a fanbase in sports as whiny or lacking in self-awareness as Georgia football fans. My pet theory is they all get whipped into a frenzy by the propaganda (dawg-aganda?) that the state media pumps out every year. You watch, they're all gonna be hootin' and hollierin' again in August about how this is the year they're gonna win a title. 

[keesler 5,924]

32 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

Don't think Brown has the amount of nasty that Fairley had, even with all the talent. Fairley wasn't content with a sack; he wanted to hurt you. Most of the time, he was smart enough to play on the edge of what was legal. Occasionally, he crossed the line. The late spear to Murray's back is what comes to mind from that game, and I don't blame UGA for hating him for it, honestly. It was a dirty, dirty shot.

Is that the game where Trooper had to go out on the field and pull Fairley off? I just remember Chiz was livid and Troop was the only one who could reign him in.

[dyehardfanAU 2,117]

I've always wondered why football players care to have long dreads.  It seems like something like this would happen more often.

[AU-24 3,063]

1 hour ago, gr82be said:

Facts: Fairley was a beast and injuries happen in football. When you are the guy that handles the football on 60-70 snaps per game your odds of injury are greater than everyone else's. Such is the quarterbacks life. Maybe he should have been a kicker. 

Or played soccer.

[keesler 5,924]

18 minutes ago, dyehardfanAU said:

I've always wondered why football players care to have long dreads.  It seems like something like this would happen more often.

I'd have ripped everyone I came in contact with when I played defense in HS. 

[McLoofus 35,182]

1 hour ago, Barnacle said:

Don't think Brown has the amount of nasty that Fairley had, even with all the talent. Fairley wasn't content with a sack; he wanted to hurt you. Most of the time, he was smart enough to play on the edge of what was legal. Occasionally, he crossed the line. The late spear to Murray's back is what comes to mind from that game, and I don't blame UGA for hating him for it, honestly. It was a dirty, dirty shot.

Exactly. I love him for how mean he was and we really need more of that back. Probably more so on offense. And I would also hate him for it if I were the other team. Buuuuuuuut...

43 minutes ago, WalkingCarpet said:

There isn't a fanbase in sports as whiny or lacking in self-awareness as Georgia football fans. My pet theory is they all get whipped into a frenzy by the propaganda (dawg-aganda?) that the state media pumps out every year. You watch, they're all gonna be hootin' and hollierin' again in August about how this is the year they're gonna win a title. 

...those crybaby whiners- really restraining myself here with my choice of words- go waaaaaaay too far with it. As in, they're still whining about it. 9 years later. They're the worst fans I've ever encountered. Yes, bammers are the scum of the earth, but at least they're not so damned whiny about everything. And at least they have the hardware to back it up. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

1 hour ago, McLoofus said:

Exactly. I love him for how mean he was and we really need more of that back. Probably more so on offense. And I would also hate him for it if I were the other team. Buuuuuuuut...

...those crybaby whiners- really restraining myself here with my choice of words- go waaaaaaay too far with it. As in, they're still whining about it. 9 years later. They're the worst fans I've ever encountered. Yes, bammers are the scum of the earth, but at least they're not so damned whiny about everything. And at least they have the hardware to back it up. 

I complain about living in Alabama, and then I talk to my friends from GA and realize I might not have it that bad. 

Have a bunch of UGA family members, sister included, but they are all very tame. My sister never even attended a football game during college there.

[boisnumber1 2,818]

Pretty much 10 years later and this guy is still crying about this? He has issues. Time for Murray to stop whining and move on. Next will be his mommy whining for him again too, I suppose.

[McLoofus 35,182]

9 minutes ago, Barnacle said:

I complain about living in Alabama, and then I talk to my friends from GA and realize I might not have it that bad. 

Have a bunch of UGA family members, sister included, but they are all very tame. My sister never even attended a football game during college there.

I actually pulled for uga in the 2012 SECCG. By 2017, I couldn't bear the thought of them winning a national title. Even if it meant bama winning it instead. I am still completely gutted over the Falcons collapse in the SB... but at least that means that a LOT of uga fans had their souls ripped clean out of their bodies and dragged through hell... TWICE.

Just my personal experience which is very limited. I of course know lots of awesome dwags and bammers. 

[AuburnEagle79 2,165]

I didn't care for the late hit in the back, but the others were fine in my opinion. Fairly's low hit wasn't even intentional, he was being blocked that way. 

I hope Murray enjoys playing in the arena league. 

[AuburnEagle79 2,165]

1 minute ago, McLoofus said:

I actually pulled for uga in the 2012 SECCG. By 2017, I couldn't bear the thought of them winning a national title. Even if it meant bama winning it instead. I am still completely gutted over the Falcons collapse in the SB... but at least that means that a LOT of uga fans had their souls ripped clean out of their bodies and dragged through hell... TWICE.

Just my personal experience which is very limited. I of course know lots of awesome dwags and bammers. 

Same here. Alabama winning another title does nothing to negatively impact me. It's a known fact that they are really, really good. UGA winning one for the first time in forever would be unbearable. 

[Barnacle 9,064]

3 minutes ago, McLoofus said:

I actually pulled for uga in the 2012 SECCG. By 2017, I couldn't bear the thought of them winning a national title. Even if it meant bama winning it instead. I am still completely gutted over the Falcons collapse in the SB... but at least that means that a LOT of uga fans had their souls ripped clean out of their bodies and dragged through hell... TWICE.

Just my personal experience which is very limited. I of course know lots of awesome dwags and bammers. 

No doubt. 

[WalkingCarpet 1,379]

34 minutes ago, boisnumber1 said:

Pretty much 10 years later and this guy is still crying about this? He has issues. Time for Murray to stop whining and move on. Next will be his mommy whining for him again too, I suppose.

Georgia players and fans get away with this level of bellyaching because there's nobody in the state or national media that calls them out on it. The GA media is all DWAGS all the time, you'd never know Auburn was 100 miles from Atlanta or where Tech is located from the year I lived there. 

[bigbird 60,460]

I wish we had some O lineman that had enough nasty in them to rip the dreads out if an opponents head.  We haven't had true meanness/viciousness/nastiness in a O lineman in quite a long time.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

 

38 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

I didn't care for the late hit in the back, but the others were fine in my opinion. Fairly's low hit wasn't even intentional, he was being blocked that way. 

I hope Murray enjoys playing in the arena league. 

Agreed. Fairley took one cheap shot that game. That happens in almost every college football game. The rest of the time, he was just better and more physical than everyone else on the field. Sorry you can't take a hit Murray.... 

[bigbird 60,460]

Cheap shot or tone setter...

[Barnacle 9,064]

43 minutes ago, AuburnEagle79 said:

I didn't care for the late hit in the back, but the others were fine in my opinion. Fairly's low hit wasn't even intentional, he was being blocked that way. 

I hope Murray enjoys playing in the arena league. 

Without the blindsided spear, I don't think the other hits would have been scrutinized the way some did.

[Barnacle 9,064]

Just now, bigbird said:

Cheap shot or tone setter...

That spear to the back was bush league. Straight up. The rest I was fine with.