So, so jealous of Claude Felton. After Wednesday, he’s going to be able to go fishing whenever he wants.

Tight lines, old friend.

In the nearly 36 years I’ve known the illustrious soon-to-be former Sports Information Director at Georgia, fishing has always been one of our favorite topics of conversation.

As good a fisherman as I like to think I am, Claude always finds a way to upstage me, in his own humble, good-natured way.

Like the time not too long ago he and former Savannah News-Press sports editor Frank Tilton went out near the coast, and pulled in Red, after Red, after Red. My guess is that the fish knew it was Claude on the other end of the rod, and they jumped on the hook just for him being the kind of guy he is.

Claude Felton is retiring. Man, those are four words I never thought you’d see me write.

If ever a man deserved his flowers for the work he was put on this earth to do, it’s Claude.

What you saw with Claude is what you got. He’s never changed. Humble, kind to a fault. If someone has a bad word to say about Claude Felton, they’re lying.

Even in this world of ever-changing media, Claude never changed, and that’s as strong a compliment as I can honestly pay. We all–the author of this column included – can learn a thing or two from him.

I’ll miss our little chats.

Given we’re from Savannah, we know a lot of the same people and have many of the same friends. Some are not with us today.

Prior to Georgia’s basketball game with Tennessee a couple of weeks ago, Claude pulled up a chair to reminisce about two such acquaintances–former Rome News Tribune sports editor Jim O’Hara and former Savannah sports anchor and huge Bulldog fan Jim Clayton.

At the time we spoke, neither man was in good health. Claude actually chatted with O’Hara shortly before he spoke with me prior to the game against the Volunteers.

The following Tuesday, O’Hara passed away.

Clayton followed suit a few days later. At his funeral in Rincon, a friend told me that at the end of the service, mourners “called the Dawgs” for Clayton one final time.

Texting Claude this, I knew it would brighten his day. I should have realized he already knew. Felton, who attended the funeral of our friend, confirmed it was true.

Of course, with my job as a sportswriter, we would interact on an almost weekly basis. Sometimes, there were problems he would need to solve.

One of my favorite Claude stories took place in 2001, when Ron Polk was the head coach of the Georgia baseball team.

At the time, I was a sportswriter for the Athens Banner-Herald. One day, Polk had had enough. Angry that the Banner-Herald would not run box scores of SEC baseball games, he announced he would no longer speak to the newspaper–in other words, me–until the paper gave in to his demands.

In his own special way, Claude smoothed things over with the cantankerous coach, something Polk and I still joke about every time we see each other to this day.

But that’s Claude.

For those of you who watch the postgame coach interviews at the SEC basketball tournament, Felton has served as the moderator for I believe the last 18 years.

A real-life Hall of Famer–College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame, the Savannah Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame–Claude’s shoes will never be truly filled.

So happy for you, my friend. Thanks for everything over these many years, and don’t be a stranger.

Just save some fish for me.