Every year, to stadiums around the nation, many college football fans travel far and wide to see their favorite team. Joining that devoted group last week in Athens was Paula Telford, perhaps better known by her UGASports and Twitter handle, ValkyrieDawg.

Still, the lengthy distance Telford recently traveled to witness her first Georgia game is not quite as great as the extraordinary passion and connection she has when it comes to Bulldogs football.

Hailing from the city of Cork, Ireland, or what is roughly 4,000 miles away from Athens, Telford was a fan of college football for years without ever having set foot in the United States. However, she was without a team—a rooting interest.

“From best I can tell, if you’re a college football fan here [in the United States], you’re either born into a rooting interest, you live near the school, or you’re an alumnus of the school,” Telford said to UGASports in an eloquent Irish accent. “But, if you’re going to root for a particular college team from where I’m from, you have to pick a team you feel connected to. And, until 15 years ago, I had yet to find that connection.”

That all changed for Telford on November 10, 2007, when 10th-ranked Georgia hosted 18th-ranked Auburn in a high-profiled affair at Sanford Stadium. She was watching a pregame show prior to the 3:30 ET kickoff when the Bulldogs’ head coach at the time, Mark Richt, appeared on her screen.

It’s safe to say the majority of college football fans have had that one moment which fully immersed them into the sport, perhaps causing them to root for one particular team over all the rest. For Telford, her moment was when she heard Richt speak.

“In the interview, Coach Richt talked about his faith, and how he found his faith from football. He talked about his team, and how his job was to make his team not only better football players—but better men,” Telford said. “My team connection came right then after I heard Mark Richt. I just knew right then he was my coach! If I had to, I would go to war for that man! And I was no doubt going to watch that Georgia-Auburn game.”

The 2007 Georgia-Auburn game is still considered one of the best gameday atmospheres in the program’s extensive history. Longtime Bulldog faithful won’t soon forget how their team ran out in front of a hysterical crowd on national television wearing alternative black jerseys for the first time ever. A two-touchdown second-quarter lead for Georgia soon evaporated and Auburn held a three-point advantage in the third quarter. However, the Bulldogs scored 28 unanswered points en route to a 45-20 memorable victory.

“What a game that was!” Telford exclaimed. “And, from where I was watching in Ireland, it was like I could feel the energy coming through the television. I said right then about the Georgia Bulldogs: ‘This is my team!’”

Since then, it often hasn’t been easy for Telford to follow her passion. Unlike most Georgia football fans, she experiences internet limitations, restricted access to reliable news outlets, and a five-hour time difference in Ireland. But, as she proclaims, “ValkyrieDawg wouldn’t change it for the world!” Through social media channels, namely Twitter and UGASports’ primary online message board, The Dawgvent, Telford has rarely missed a beat when it comes to the Bulldogs.

“College football is the purest form of the sport. And, because of the online community which is associated with the sport, whether that’s on the Vent (The Dawgvent) or Twitter, I feel right at home with no limitations to follow Georgia football,” she said. “In fact, because of that ‘community,’ I’ve never felt more at home when I’m actually thousands of miles away from all the Bulldog fans. No matter the distance, we can all talk about Georgia football together—and it’s great!”

Offline and out in public in Ireland, however, it’s another story for Telford when supporting her passion for the Bulldogs.

“When I’m wearing Georgia’s Power ‘G’ logo, like on a hoodie, a cap, or something like that, I don’t think many people know what it is or what it represents,” she said. “And for the few who do think they recognize the logo, most believe I’m a big fan of the Green Bay Packers.”

Soon after the Bulldogs captured the national championship last January, Telford’s online experience with Georgia football was expanded even further when she connected with Gary Avelar, a middle school teacher in Grovetown, Georgia, and also known online as NattyDawg. The pair instantly connected, discussing everything—first online publicly, then privately—from each other’s faith to their tattoos to, of course, Georgia football. A first date in Atlanta ensued, followed by a trip for Avelar to Ireland last summer. It was then the couple planned a trip for Telford to visit Athens in the fall for a Bulldogs game. As for which specific game, there was little question who would be Georgia’s foe.

“I had fallen in love with Georgia football 15 years before when the Bulldogs played Auburn,” Telford said. "I was going to come full circle and watch Georgia host Auburn again for my first live Bulldogs game.”

Telford’s trip to the Classic City notably started off with her responding to a verbal jab by barking at a Georgia Tech fan at the airport in Ireland (no joke), followed by being served on the flight by a steward she would later communicate with on The Dawgvent.

With the couple filled with excitement and hardly sleeping the night before, Saturday included Telford’s gameday ritual of recording and posting a video of an Irish war cry relevant to the Bulldogs’ opponent. This was followed by an emotional experience at the Dawg Walk, where she went through three tissues wiping away tears. The couple spent the entire morning and into the afternoon walking around campus, visiting the various tailgates of the fellow Georgia fans they had met over social media. In all, Telford and Avelar walked for more than 14 miles on gameday, sprinkling four-leaf clovers along the way to bring their Bulldogs good luck.

“We absolutely loved it!” Telford said. “We’d be walking and recognized by the back of the Georgia jerseys we were wearing, we’d hear, ‘Hey, there’s ValkyrieDawg!’ or ‘Hey, there’s NattyDawg!’ These were literally the people we spoke to a daily basis on The Dawgvent or Twitter. These were my people. They were a major reason I was in Athens to begin with. And, because of them, it was the most amazing experience!”

As far as the actual game, Telford admitted she didn’t think her “heart would cope” if it became a fourth-quarter contest after the Georgia offense got off to a slow start. Fortunately for her, the Bulldogs broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter to eventually pull away and rout the visiting Tigers, 42-10.

“We started neck and neck with Auburn—before we took off! Good thing we did, or I might have had a heart attack or passed out,” Telford said with a laugh. “The stadium was so loud. My watch was actually warning me of the decibel levels, like I could suffer some permanent hearing loss if it continued. But I’ll take it—loud and proud! It’s Georgia football, so it’s normal.”

This week, Telford returned to her native Ireland, where she works as a Senior iOS Technician for a major technology company. But she will return to the Peach State in the very near future. She and Avelar will be getting married in Georgia (he appropriately proposed under the University of Georgia Arch). They plan to live in Ireland for at least their first few years of marriage.

The question arises whether ValkyrieDawg and NattyDawg, living in a country filled with non-Dawgs—if you will—will be able to passionately follow Georgia football from so afar, especially considering their recent gameday experience.

“Well, we’ll always have The Dawgvent!” Telford responded. “And I believe the word is spreading—word that not all of us who wear the Power ‘G’ root for the Green Bay Packers,” she added with a chuckle.

Telford described a recent occurrence in Ireland of returning to her car parked at her gym’s parking lot. The car, which fittingly features multiple Georgia football decals, displayed newly-added Bulldogs décor: A paper napkin on her windshield reading, “Go Dawgs!!”

“I had no clue who placed that napkin on my windshield,” Telford said. “But, whoever it was, they gave me a defining moment. ‘Go Dawgs’ shows that there is at least one other person in my country who gets me—my passion for the Georgia Bulldogs—and that there is at least one other Dawg in Ireland.”