Georgia Football: Aaron Murray Puts Personal Goals on Hold for Championship Ring

Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray cares about one thing: winning championships.

“I’m not here for personal recognition or any personal awards,” Murray said. “I’m here to put a ring on my finger and my teammates’ fingers.”

At the 2012 Manning Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La., Murray competed against top college quarterbacks in the annual "Air it Out" session, including rival SEC quarterbacks. The competition saw 30-plus college quarterbacks who served as camp counselors throw three footballs at moving golf carts.

Notable quarterbacks such as USC's Matt Barkley, Arkansas' Tyler Wilson, West Virginia's Geno Smith, Kansas State's Collin Klein, Tennessee's Tyler Bray and LSU's Zach Mettenberger all participated.

While Wilson may have beaten Murray out for First-Team All-SEC at the end of 2011, Murray was one of the four quarterbacks to hit all three targets and advance to the finals. Eventually, Murray would lose to 2012 "Air It Out" champ Charlie Loeb from Syracuse.

But even though Murray admits to friendly trash talk amongst his peers, he's adamant about bringing Bulldogs fans a championship over anything else.

“I can throw 20 interceptions and five touchdowns, but if we won every single one of those games, I’d be the happiest man alive. I’m here to win championships,” Murray said.

Unfortunately, he'll have to win that championship without his starting tailback from a year ago. Following his arrest on weapons charges, Isaiah Crowell was dismissed from the team on June 29. Murray called the situation "sad," but he believes the Bulldogs still have a great stable of backs, including freshman Keith Marshall.

“Keith looks great. He’s an extremely intelligent kid. It’s great that he came in early, and it’s helped him pick up the playbook well. I’m expecting big things from him, along with our other running backs,” Murray said.

But that's not the only adjustment in 2012 for Georgia's offense. Murray will have to get used to sharing wide receiver Malcolm Mitchell, as he makes the switch to defensive back as well.

“I think he’s going to go back-and-forth depending on how much we need him at defensive back. I’ll make sure he comes on offense though, that’s for sure,” he said.

And though the Bulldogs finished the season with two straight losses to LSU and Michigan State, Murray believes the team learned a lot from the losses and from the ten-game winning streak heading into the 2011 SEC Championship Game.

“To win that many games in a row, you get the feeling that you’re not going to lose ever, that you can dominate every game,” Murray said.

With that same mentality, Murray's eyes are fixated on a championship. That's all that matters.

Jake Martin is a Featured Columnist of Bleacher Report and an intern for the Concordia Sentinel in Ferriday, La. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand or from official interview materials from the Concordia Sentinel.