The sound of a dream

If you were given the choice of becoming a multimillionaire overnight -- just by agreeing to be paid for doing what you love to do -- how long would you need to think about it?

That Matthew Stafford had to think long and hard about it is a testament to the greatness of Georgia football.

Ultimately, though, the sound of a dream was too much to resist for the University of Georgia junior quarterback, and sophomore teammate Knowshon Moreno, who Wednesday declared themselves eligible for this spring's National Football League draft.

There's no going back.

Like proud, clingy parents, Georgia fans will absolutely hate to see them go. They wore the Georgia colors with dignity and played the sport as well as any in the nation. They helped Georgia earn a preseason No. 1 ranking this past season. The duo accounted for over 95 percent of the Bulldogs' offense this year. They led the team to an impressive bowl win against the Big Ten's Michigan State.

That game turned out to be their last for Georgia. We'll miss them very much.

But they were too close to their dream not to hear it yelling in their ears. And you just can't blame promising young men for jumping at the chance to live their dreams.

Not only will they play in the NFL, but they should be drafted early and compensated richly for their talent and potential. Stafford figures to be picked as early as first or third overall -- and that means a fat contract indeed. Moreno will be picked later, but perhaps in the first round, which also means big money.

Moreover, as a running back, Moreno no doubt hopes to enhance his long-term earning potential by escaping the wear and tear of two years of college football.

They promise to eventually get their degrees, and they certainly should. Football isn't forever -- especially for a running back, who takes an incessant pounding and most likely will have to retire before age 30. Even as these two potential superstars contemplate a career in the NFL, they should have an eye toward life after football.

That's not to say leaving college early is a mistake for them. As a famous financial adviser used to say, what would you rather have after your name: seven letters or seven numbers?

Still, we'll always wonder what might have been. What heights a Stafford/Moreno-led Bulldog team might have climbed. Whether the top-rated expectations of this past year might have been realized next season. What thrills they might have given us on fall afternoons. How big their Georgia legends might have gotten.

Well, those legends have gotten pretty big in just a few years. And we can hold on to that -- while letting go of two very special young men compelled to chase their dreams.