ATHENS, Ga. -- Larry Munson ended 43 years as the radio play-by-play voice for Georgia football games when he said Monday he has called his last game.
The 85-year-old Munson underwent surgery April 4 to remove blood clots from his brain, but he returned to work Georgia's first two home games.
He said he won't be in the booth for Saturday's game against Alabama.
"It caught me by great surprise," Loran Smith, Munson's longtime sideline reporter and host of Georgia's pregame show, said of the announcement.
"I had thought that his voice for the first couple of games was a little weaker than usual."
Munson, who began working only on home games last season, was on the pregame show by phone before Saturday night's game at Arizona State.
"He sounded stronger than ever," Smith said. "I just thought he was getting stronger and would be his old self.
"I thought with the excitement of a game like Alabama he would be back to his old heroics."
The timing of the retirement was a surprise, since the game between No. 3 Georgia and No. 8 Alabama will attract much attention.
"I would guess from his standpoint he's looking at the stress and pressure," Smith said. "Maybe he's thinking he wants to be very careful."
The Alabama game is a landmark for the Georgia radio team for the second consecutive year. Last season's game at Alabama was the first road game that Munson missed.
Munson was in his 43rd season as Georgia's lead voice on its radio network.
"I can't express enough my deep feelings toward the Georgia football fans," Munson said in a statement released by Georgia.
Falconidiot 
