University of Georgia junior linebacker Rennie Curran announced Sunday plans to forego his final collegiate season and enter the NFL draft.
 
A 5-foot-11, 225-pound native of Snellville, Curran appeared in 37 games for the Bulldogs including 30 starts. In his three seasons at Georgia, Curran amassed 298 tackles. This past season, Curran led the SEC in tackles with 130, collected All-SEC honors for the second straight year and was named one of Georgia's permanent team captains. He was a finalist for the Rotary Lombardi and Chuck Bednarik awards.
 

"This has been a really difficult decision," Curran said. "I love the Bulldogs and my time at Georgia has been great. But weighing all the factors over the last couple of weeks, I finally reached the decision Saturday that entering the NFL draft this year is the right decision for me at this time."       

Curran is the first Bulldog to have back-to-back seasons with more than 100 tackles since Greg Bright in 1997. Curran had a career-high 16 stops versus No. 4 LSU and tallied 15 tackles in the road win over No. 7 Georgia Tech.

Georgia won the Independence Bowl and finished with an 8-5 mark.
 
"Rennie has been a cornerstone of our defense over the last couple years and even as a freshman, made tremendous contributions," coach Mark Richt said.  "I think our team's fondness for Rennie was demonstrated by his election by his teammates as one of our permanent defensive captains for 2009. He will be sorely missed not only on the field but in the locker room and at the University. We certainly wish him the very best."