Before the tragic triple murder in Athens on Saturday, I was trying to put Matthew Stafford’s Detroit Lions contract worth at least $72 million into perspective for a front page story.

The story ended up being scrapped because of the news of the day (we of course had coverage in the sports section), but here’s where I was going.

Stafford’s deal is worth an average of $12 million per season, which would have landed the 21-year old quarterback 110th on the CEO compensation list last year for the 500 biggest companies, according to Forbes. Stafford would be ahead of the top executive at Time Warner, General Electric, Heinz, Exxon Mobil and PepsiCo.

Halfback Charley Trippi, one of four No. 1 overall picks from Georgia, signed a four-year contract with the Chicago Cardinals worth a total of $100,000 or $25,000 per season.

“It’s a different ballgame now,” said Trippi, who played for the Bulldogs in 1942 and in 1945-46 after serving in the Air Force.

Indeed it is.

Two other items of note:
-- A former Georgia punter who still ranks No. 2 for single season average in program history (45.3) and is tied for second for career average (42.8) was honored at a ceremony last week in Bainbridge. On a side note, how great is the team name Syrupmakers?

--I’m guessing that Trev Alberts won’t be doing the color on Georgia-Georgia Tech or any other game any time soon. Alberts is now an athletic director in Nebraska.