I just came across this Tracy Rocker story worth sharing.
Tracy Rocker sat in Mark Richt’s office, in the furthest corner of Georgia’s football facility, late last January. Rocker, then with the NFL’s Tennessee Titans, was interviewing for the vacant defensive line coach position in Athens, and he knew little about Richt. Namely, that the Georgia head coach, for all his stoicism, keeps a running monologue wherever he goes.
So, when Richt paused during the interview, suddenly deep in thought, and said, “Tracy Rocker…didn’t you coach Nick Fairley?”
Rocker shifted in his chair. He had, in fact, coached the dominant (and controversial) defensive tackle at Auburn in 2010. When Georgia visited Jordan-Hare Stadium that year, Fairley drew several personal fouls for spearing redshirt freshman quarterback Aaron Murray. Former Auburn assistant Trooper Taylor had to drag Fairley off the field in the fourth quarter.
“Yeah, I didn’t like that too much,” Richt continued.
Awkward!
Still, it didn’t keep him from getting the job.
Get The Picture 
If only Rocker had responded, “You’re damn right I ordered the Code Red!”
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hahahaha
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I must say, if he’s going to be coaching our players to be as dirty as Fairley was, I hope he finds another employer pretty quick.
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I didn’t see any indication this past year that would lead me to believe we have anything to worry about as far as coaching someone to play dirty ball
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Dirty players are different from dirty coaches.
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You read what his response was, right? That’s just how he does it?
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I actually liked and pulled for auburn (except when playing us) right up until that game. Now they can’t lose enough to make me happy. Isn’t fairley in prison now or something?
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He’s off sleazing it up with Ndamokong Suh in Detroit.
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Sounds like prison.
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About a $5 Million per year prison.
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And all of that dirty play benefited Fairley. But the victor was Murray. He stood immovable in great pain and delivered. Murray established himself deeply into our hearts by performing like a great Dawg He scored many points, but unfortunately Grantham allowed Cam a few more. The trial he was put through in front of a national audience and all the alumni was indeed horrific, but Murray’s courage was forever in our hearts to this day.
That Murray is a DGD goes with the memory of Fairley trying to play dirty bully that ended in lionizing Murray.
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I’m not sure which is more fantastic, this or that Fairley drew “several personal fouls for spearing Murray”.
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He should have been removed from the game. I understand late hits, but that was the latest hit I have ever seen and he used his helmet like a weapon.
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Payback has been a bitch, hasn’t it WD E?
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Not sure what you mean.
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That we have pretty much kicked your ass since then. You lucked out one one year before last, bit the other years since we have demolished you.
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We’ll said Cojones
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Agree 100%
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Oh good! This gives me a second chance today to say how much I hate Auburn. Deeply, committedly, perhaps even irrationally. I don’t have any friends who are Auburn fans, and I aim to keep it that way.
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I hate harvey updyke (the guy who poisoned the oak trees) because when I heard that it happened I felt sorry for auburn for like 30 seconds. I’ll never get that 30 seconds back and I’ll never forgive updyke for it.
Is that irrational? Whose place is it to judge?
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I don’t understand this notion of “irrationally” hating the Tiggers. Wouldn’t an irrational person, or at least an irrational Dawgfan, be one who doesn’t hate them every day and all the time?
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Must have been his evil twin. Everybody knows Richt is much too passive to say something like this.
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Yea, wasn’t very Christian mingle of him.
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Real easy to see what was a priority of Richt’s hiring of Rocker. Honesty and the lust for seeing a few UGA D Linemen dominate as Fairley did without being dirty.
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I certainly hope that coaching style isn’t condoned in Athens. I get what the defensive guys try to do in general but sometimes they don’t know where to draw a line. It’s bad for the sport.
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I only have one question: “Namely, that the Georgia head coach, for all his stoicism, keeps a running monologue wherever he goes.” What does this mean? That Richt goes around mumbling to himself?
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I wondered the same thing. What the heck does that mean?
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It mean he has Samuel L. Jackson narrating every moment of his life as he performs his daily tasks.
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Oh God…do you think Sam called the pass on the goal line? Or the pooch?
Does Mark Richt have control of the voices narrating his life?
Larry? Larry? waddaya think?
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I used to look at AU as a friendly rival before that game. Now I hate those bastards. I have never before wished a player injured, but I sincerely hope Fairly suffers traumatic brain injury an spends the rest of his life defecating on himself. Harvey Updyke is a great American. I think he said the only thing he regrets about poisoning the trees is that he can’t do it again. Dude is awesome.
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Obviously you understand the depth of my feelings for FU.
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Congratulations Gurkha Dawg, you win a Netty for Post of the Day.
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Thank you, thank you dawg. I finally won something. I feel like the dad on “A Christmas Story”.
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I have hated them with the burning passion of 1,000 suns ever since the game they hosed down the Georgia fans after we beat them.
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The 2010 Auburn game was the day I lost respect for CMR. He just let Fairley get away with abusing Murray without doing anything. When the refs didn’t flag Fairley like they should have CMR should have ordered every OL to go after Fairley on every play until he was a broken mass of bloody flesh laying on the field–but he didn’t. Thank goodness for Ben Jones who had the guts at least to retaliate on his own, causing the Auburn coaches to pull Fairley from the game (cowards). If Jones hadn’t done that Murray’s career could very well have ended that night.
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Even worse than the spearing was when that SOB Fairley had Murray pinned on the ground and was trying to push his facemask down on Murray’s neck. He could have crushed Murray’s trachea and killed him. If Murray wasn’t such a badass and fought him off he could have died. If Rocker thinks that is just football then he is a delusional asshole.
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“But I said with all due respect…”- Ricky Bobby
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