Gunner Stockton cites grandfather's heart attack after 2010 Florida-Georgia game as motivating factor

The annual Florida–Georgia game — formerly known as “the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party” — means many different things to fans and players alike on both sides of the bitter rivalry. That includes Bulldogs starting quarterback Gunner Stockton, who revealed his own deeply personal motivation to ESPN ahead of Saturday’s showdown in Jacksonville.

Stockton’s grandfather, Lawrence, died of a heart attack at 63 years old, 15 years ago in the EverBank Stadium parking lot shortly after Georgia’s 34-31 overtime loss to the Gators on Oct. 30, 2010. It was Florida’s 18th win in 21 meetings and the final Gators victory under then-head coach Urban Meyer, who stepped away after the season.

“He had a heart attack there at the stadium,” Stockton told ESPN this week. “Every time we go to Florida, I really want to beat them bad in Jacksonville.”

Lawrence Stockton went out as any college football fan could. A graduate of UGA’s School of Pharmacy, he was reportedly complaining about Georgia’s beleaguered defense when he suffered the lethal heart attack, according to his widow.

“He said something about (then-Georgia defensive coordinator) Todd Grantham and collapsed,” Lawrence Stockton’s widow, Suzanne Frederickson, told ESPN this week.

Gunner Stockton, a redshirt junior from Tiger in Northeast Georgia, had a strong connection with his grandfather. They regularly went hunting and fishing together in the mountains near their home.

“He lived on the lake, and he always treated us so good and spoiled the grandkids,” Gunner told ESPN. “He was just a great granddad.”

As opposed to when Gunner was growing up, the Florida-Georgia rivalry has swung hard in the Bulldogs’ favor recently, with Georgia winning seven of the last eight in the series, including the last four in a row. The Gators enter Saturday’s game still reeling after firing fourth-year head coach Billy Napier a week from last Sunday, with former receivers coach Billy Gonzales serving as interim head coach the rest of the year.

This season, his first as UGA’s QB1, Gunner Stockton leads all SEC quarterbacks with a 70.5 completion percentage. That goes along with 1,553 passing yards and 10 touchdowns to one interception while adding 279 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground.

And with the added inspiration of playing for his late grandfather, the 21-year-old Stockton has all the motivation he needs to put on a show Saturday in Jacksonville.