Gator History: Better to be Lucky than Good?

I sit with wonderment when Gator fans tell me, "if Miami or Florida State were in the SEC they never would have won anything." This myth is compounded by a national media that builds up the SEC, and that SEC teams get credit for beating one another while Big Ten, Big 12 and ACC teams get roasted in the press if they lose to a perceived weak sister within their own league.

Let's take this a step further: Florida does currently play in the toughest league in the country. But when Florida in fact won its first national title and when it won the majority of its league titles, the SEC had become essentially a two or three team conference. The 1990s were a bad time for traditional SEC powers LSU and Georgia. The Tigers had six consecutive losing seasons, including a dubious 2-9 year in 1992. Georgia also combined the occasional losing season, with many mediocre ones, with records in the neighborhood of 6-5 and 7-4. Auburn started the decade poorly, then rebounded but found itself on probation. Alabama started the decade well but then also found itself on probation and suffered some humiliating home defeats to teams from non power conferences along the way.

The Conference was a dominant force in the 1980 but by 1995 and 1996 when Florida played for the national title, the league was arguably the weakest in the "Bowl Alliance" a forerunner of the BCS. In 1996, Florida State went undefeated in the regular season including a season ending victory over Florida, where the score appeared close, but the game in fact was not, as FSU dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. Yet thanks to Florida's win over a weak Alabama team in the SEC Title game and some other events including the the then annual Ohio State defeat to Michigan, Florida State found itself playing a team it had just beat in the championship game. In fact in the recent history of college football the 1996 Seminoles are the only team to ever have to face the same team in two consecutive games. Of course Florida won the Sugar Bowl and we hear today how that team which had been manhandled by the same Seminoles at the end of the regular season was "legendary."

Contrast this with a Miami team in 1988 which played five conference champions plus eventual national champion Notre Dame and then #1 Florida State. Miami lost to Notre Dame in South Bend on what remains 20 years later a very controversial and suspicious call. Yet Miami didn't get a rematch with Notre Dame and despite playing one of the toughest schedules ever, the Canes finished the year 11-1 and #2 in the polls. That year Miami defeated SEC Champion LSU 44-3 in Baton Rouge just in case anyone wants to claim Miami wouldn't have survived the SEC.

Now Florida's second national championship while certainly more deserved is also a bit suspect. I will not question the quality of the SEC in 2006. It was hands down the nation's best league. However, I still make a very strong case that Louisville who had scheduled some tough non league games and had survived an under rated conference schedule at 11-1 overall may have deserved the next crack at the title game when USC fell to UCLA.

Florida last traveled outside the state to play a non conference game in 1991 when the Gators were smashed by Syracuse. Let's compare that to Miami who is traveling to College Station, TX to face the Aggies in its next game. How about Florida State who much like Miami schedules competitive home and home series with teams from around the country? All of this despite the continued statements from Jeremy Foley that he wants Florida to play a more national schedule. Well I guess if you bring Montana State to your house, that is more national, isn't it?

Cannot Spell SCUM Without UM????????

I've read with a great deal of amusement the musings on assorted Gator fan sites in the last 24 hours about Miami. I've read the team called Shannon's Criminals, Stolen Cars, Snorting Cocaine, Smoking Crack etc. You'd think with this sort of talk, Florida would itself have a pristine record of discipline. However, the record tells us a different story. In fact Miami has had a grand total of six active players arrested in the last 13 years (including three who were never charged with a crime) and have much higher academic standards for the admission of Football players than UF does currently. Randy Shannon suspends players at any hint of impropriety. in Gainesville however, eight players were arrested in a nine month period of 2007 more than Miami has had arrested in the entire period between 1995 and 2008.

What to do about Florida you ask? Well the football team might as well have been cast in the Longest Yard. Here are some recent issues the Gators fans surely will not discuss. (And yes I am UF eduated myself but as a South Floridian who grew up and likely will die in the area I love, the surest way to offend me to is to slander my people and the team I have cheered for since I was six years old.)

• Marcus Thomas: Gator great who failed multiple drug tests but was reinstated by Urban Meyer in time to defeat LSU and then dismissed from the team afterwards when he failed another test. When exactly did he pass a drug test to play against LSU?
  
• Brandon James: The Gator version of Devin Hester was caught during a buy bust attempting to purchase marijuana. His punishment? Suspension from practice! Actually a reward of sort depending on how you view it. He also served a suspension against a 1AA team. Does anyone actually believe this guy would have lasted at Miami under Shannon.
  
• From Losers with Socks.com: The 7-Man shower Self shooting gun incident, Gator players led by Dee Webb, Andre “Bubba” Caldwell and Reggie Lewis had a $60,000 SUV loaded with improperly registered AK’s and other machine guns… and they were all drunk while shooting at apartment windows for fun. Of course initially nobody took the blame and they all said they were in the shower (together) and that the gun must have shot itself… Gators went with the deniable plausibility angle when Dee Webb shot off his arsenal saying he had already declared for the draft, so he was no longer a Gator.
• Taurean Charles slammed his girlfriend on a computer desk and then picked her up and threw her to the ground.
  
• Percy Harvin hasn't gotten into trouble at Florida but did slug a ref and steal memorabilia when in High School. Yet the same Gator fans who ripped Larry Coker for recruiting Willie Williams turned a blind eye to Harvin's recruitment by Urban Meyer.
  
• Jon Demps: Which arrest do I list?
• Jermaine Cunningham: 1st degree battery
• The late Avery Atkins: Thou shall not pick on the deceased, but Atkins was the poster child for this era of Gator players.
  
• Jarvis Moss: A failed drug test led to a suspension against a 1AA opponent. Can you imagine being caught failing a drug test at Miami these days? Maybe he'd have been given 12 hours to gather his belongings and catch a Greyhound out of town.
  
• Riley Cooper smashed a car windshield from outside with a passenger in the vehicle and then threw a punch in a parking lot brawl.
• Jamar Hornsby used a credit card belonging to the father of a deceased former UF student more than 70 times and charged more than $2,800 worth of merchandise throughout the state.Boy he'd make Doug Gottlieb proud!
• Ronnie Wilson fired a semiautomatic weapon into the air after a nightclub incident. Also arrested for a DUI on a separate occasion.
  
• Tony Joiner may have been misunderstood but regardless of what people think, prancing around towing lots at 5am when you should be fast asleep deserves a mention.
  
• Dallas Baker stole a bicycle on campus claiming he was late for a meeting.
  
• Dustin Doe punched a man during a gang fight outside a nightclub and was promptly arrested. Assault and Battery was the charge.
  
• Ronnie Wilson trampled on a man and spit on him before being arrested. Firing and displaying a concealed weapon.
  
• Dorian Monroe took a parking boot off his car and stick it in his trunk.
  

Each of these above incident took place in the 3 1/2 years of Urban Meyer's stewardship of the Florida program. Remember Meyer's hiring in December 2004 when he said he'd bring "discipline" back to the Florida program?

Well considering this list from before Meyer's tenure, maybe eight arrests in nine months isn't so bad by Florida's lofty standards:

Fred Taylor - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Reidel Anthony - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Ike Hilliard- Dealings with agent Tank Black
Javon Kearse - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Jacquez Green - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Mike Peterson - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Reggie McGrew - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Johnny Rutledge - Dealings with agent Tank Black
Keith Council - ?Dealings with agent Tank Black
Tim Beauchamp - Dealings with agent Mike McDonald
Dock Pollard - Dealings with agent Mike McDonald
Mo Collins - Accepted cash from agent
Tony George - Family at Holiday Inn on agents credit card
Thefts
Jabar Gaffney - Multi thefts of money and items
Reidel Anthony - Credit card fraud
Fred Taylor - Credit card fraud - some law books among other things
Ron Graddy - Accessory armed Robbery, driving a getaway car
Doc Pollard - Multiple - Book theft - skipping classes
Jamie Richardson - Threw a deadly missile into a restaurant, aggravated battery (pool stick), credit card fraud
Damian Hill - Book theft
Pat Browning - DUI, Purse theft
Takeo Brown - Domestic Violence (slammed pregnant girlfriend), credit card fraud
Assault
Derrick Corker - Domestic battery and criminal mischief
Dwight Edge - Aggravated Stalking, battery
Jamie Richardson - aggravated battery with a pool stick (1997)
Jamie Richardson – credit card fraud
Jamie Richardson – Discharging a deadly missile (1996)
Anthony Mitchel - Misdemeanor Battery
Ernie Badeaux – Battery (1995)
Ernie Badeaux – Battery (1997)
Johnie Church - Domestic Violence (assaulted wife)
Elijah Williams - Sexual Battery, obstructing justice, coercing witnesses to lie
Takeo Brown - Domestic Violence (slammed pregnant girlfriend), credit card fraud
Tony Davis - Held girlfriend over the railing of her fourth-floor dormitory balcony and threatened to let her go
Darren Hambrick - Assault with deadly weapon
Anthony Riggins - Assault with deadly weapon
Willie Jackson - Attacked police officer at Gator Growl
Avery Atkins – domestic assault – kicked off team
Ronnie Mathew Wilson – Aggravated assault, simple battery
DUI/Driving
Pat Browning - DUI, Purse stealer, theft
Ryan Kalich - DUI, crashed into an off-duty deputy
Ian Skinner - 15 Days jail - multiple driving infractions, tested positive for marijuana.
Gerard Warren - Marijuana possession
Ian Skinner - X
Marcus Thomas - kicked off team for drug violations
Jarvis Moss – suspended for drug violations
Major Parker - BB Player and Assistant coach at UF during - Busted for selling 1/2 kilo of coke to undercover officers. Played Football for Ron Zook.
Guns
Zach Zedalis - Gun in dorm
Demetrice Webb – Involved in shooting in residential complex
Kenneth Tookes – Involved in shooting in residential complex (shot Webb’s AK-47)
Kyle Morris - Betting on football
Shane Matthews - Betting on football games
Doug Johnson - Tossed Football at Bobby Bowden's head during fracas begun by team mate Tony George.
Eugene McCaslin - 3 game rules violation
John Demps – kicked off team for traffic violations (more unknown)
(this list does not include the Gaffney and Respert incidents)
1999) Derrick Corker - Arrested for domestic battery and criminal mischief.
1999) Dwight Edge - Felony Stalking.
1999) Rod Graddy - Accessory Armed Robbery.
199 Dwight Edge - Misdemeanor battery.
199 Jamie Richardson - aggravated battery.
1997) Anothny Mitchell - misdemeanor battery.
1997) Ernie Badeaux - Assualt.
1997) Elijah Williams - Sexual assualt.
1996) Jamie Richardson - Charged with throwing a deadly missile into a restaurant.
1995) Ernie Badeaux - Charged with hitting someone in the back of the head.
1995) Johnie Church - Domestic violence.
1995) Teako Brown - Aggravated battery against his girlfriend.
I know a few are missing and I’m only going back to ‘97 (I only found the recent, someone else found the others, but a little more digging would turn up more).
Sep 17, 1999 (Source: Orlando Sentinel) -Warren, who was arrested Jan. 7, agreed to a deferred prosecution arrangement, costing him fines and community service that had him reading to local elementary school students in the off-season. UF’s Office of Student Judicial Affairs, which rules independently of the court system, slapped Warren with a two-game suspension.
July 3, 1999 (Source: Orlando Sentinel) - Coach Steve Spurrier was out of town and unavailable for comment. He has said since spring workouts that several players would be held out of early games due to violations of department or team rules as well as class attendance policies.
January, 1998 (Source: Various) - Florida tight end Dwight Edge is arrested on misdemeanor battery charges. Later, coach Steve Spurrier reinstates tight end Dwight Edge for spring drills after he agreed to enter a deferred pretrial intervention program. Edge has started sparingly for the Gators.
January, 1998 (Source: Sun-Sentinel [Ft. Lauderdale Fla.]) - University of Florida wide receiver Jamie Richardson was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony, for his part in a fight at a downtown Gainesville nightclub. Richardson was accused of striking club employee Jonathan Harris, 22, on the back of the head several times with a closed fist, knocking Harris to the ground and striking him with a pool cue. The arrest occurred just 23 days after Richardson came off a six-month probation, stemming from a no-contest plea to misdemeanor battery charges.
August, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) Anthony Mitchell, a defensive end, was charged with misdemeanor battery after he was accused of shoving another student into a dorm room wall in April. was suspended for the season opener against Southern Mississippi on Aug. 30.
August, 1997 (Source: Sun-Sentinel [Ft. Lauderdale Fla.]) - Four days before the start of fall practice, defensive tackle Ernie Badeaux left the Florida team transferred to Nichols State. According to published reports, the national champion Gators kicked Badeaux off the team, allegedly for violence off the field. Badeaux had off-field problems since he arrived in Gainesville . He got off to a shaky start when he hit another student in the back of the head outside a bar. His last incident reportedly involved another case of physical abuse.
February, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - Guard Ryan Kalich, who started every game on the offensive line in 1996 pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and faces a year of probation and six months without his driver’s license. Kalich, 20, was arrested Feb. 2 after his car collided with a car driven by an off-duty police officer. Breathalyzer tests showed his blood-alcohol level to be more than twice the legal limit. He was suspended from the season opener against Southern Mississippi .
August, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - Zach Zedalis was suspended two games for having a BB gun in his dorm room. Zedalis said the BB gun was not his, but the university’s Student Judicial Affairs Committee denied his appeal twice.
March, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - A 19-year-old UF student filed a sworn complaint of felony sexual battery against Elijah Williams. The state attorney’s office declined to press formal charges. Williams instead was charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer without violence, accusing him of lying to investigating police and encouraging witnesses to do the same. Williams pleaded no contest last month and is serving 90 days of non-reporting probation, in addition to paying court costs. Elijah Williams was suspended from the season opener.
GAINESVILLE - University of Florida athlete Dwight Edge was arrested Thursday afternoon on a felony charge of aggravated stalking. Edge’s second episode of off-the-field violence prompted his immediately expulsion from school, sources said.
INCIDENT ENDS GRADDY’S UF CAREER
Orlando Sentinel - Published on 08/11/99
GAINESVILLE - This time, Rod Graddy didn’t need to get in trouble. Just being around it was enough to end his University of Florida football career.
Graddy, a junior strong safety and the Gators’ lone full-time starter returning from last year’s defense, was kicked off UF’s team for his involvement in the aftermath of a robbery in downtown Gainesville last weekend, school sources said.
February 1999 - (Source, CBS Sportline)- Former UF football players Tim Beauchamp and Dock Pollard have been named in an investigation for accepting cash from a sports agent during the past football season. The roommate of the two University of Florida football players, has been charged with illegally funneling money from a Lousiana sports agent to the athletes.Michael Joseph McDonald, 23, acted as a middleman for the agent and distributed the money to players. McDonald, of Gainesville , was charged with one felony count of unlicensed athletic agent activity. “We’re anticipating more charges” against other individuals, said policespokeswoman Sandy Badics. She could not say whether other players were involved. Florida officials said they learned about the investigation in late November, after the regular season had ended. The school suspended Beauchamp and Pollard on Dec. 28, before the Orange Bowl, for a violation of university rules. UF officials did not go public with incident until February, 10, nearly three months after the incident and a week after national signing day.
A recruiter for agent William “Tank” Black, who heads operations at Professional Management Inc., (”PMI”) of Columbia , S.C. , reportedly has been accused by agents of trying to bribe a Louisiana State assistant coach into funneling a top NFL prospect to PMI. PMI represents ex-UF players Fred Taylor, Reidel Anthony, Ike Hilliard and Jacquez Green, as well as outgoing Gators Jevon Kearse, Mike Peterson, Reggie McGrew and Johnny Rutledge.
January, 1999 - (Source, AP) Tight end Dwight Edge, 20, of Apopka was arrested and charged with felony aggravated stalking. University officials dismissed Edge from school soon after his arrest. A backup through most of the 1998 season, the sophomore was expected to compete for a starting position next season. According to a release from the University of Florida Police Department, Edge had been harassing and stalking a Florida student since she ended a relationship with him this past September. The release said Edge waited outside the victim’s residence, threw rocks at her window and placed harassing phone calls to her residence. Police said that on two occasions, Edge chased the victim through campus in his vehicle at speeds up to 50 mph.
January, 1999 - (Source, AP) Defensive lineman Gerard Warren, 20, was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of marijuana possession. Warren, a redshirt freshman from Union County , had not been in legal trouble previously. His case, which is still pending, is expected to result in a fine and possible community service. Neither the school, nor Spurrier has announced whether Warren … who is expected to be a starter next season … will be penalized….
December, 1998 (Source, Florida Times Union) - Three Florida players, including senior defensive end Tim Beauchamp, were suspended for violating university policy. Pollard and Browning, who have been in and out of trouble since enrolling at UF, will not return to the team. Pollard started the first five games of the season at cornerback before being suspended for the next two because of academic problems. He missed another game later in the season for a violation of university policy. Pollard was also part of a book theft incident with former player Damian Hill, although charges against Pollard were later dropped by the state attorney. Browning had been in trouble twice at UF, once for what he claimed as taking a student’s purse as a prank, and the other for driving under the influence.
August, 1998 (Source, USA Today) receiver Ian Skinner spent 15 days in county jail after a July 31 conviction for driving with a suspended license, which followed several previous arrests (4 times) on the same charge. He was also put on probation and ordered to pay fines. Skinner has not been suspended, pending possible action by the school’s Student Judicial Body. Skinner was quoted saying, “[t]he judge told me my driving record was so bad that I was looking at a year (in jail)….” Skinner said he spent part of his incarceration playing catch with toilet paper with other inmates. “But I was lucky. I told the attorneys I played football for the Gators and I had practice in a couple of weeks, and they brought it down to 15 days with probation.”
August, 1998 (Source, Various) Five gators were suspended for the season opener against the Citadel. Rod Graddy and Teako Brown were suspended for the opener against the Citadel for violating the University Athletic Association’s class- attendance policy in the spring. Junior Keith Kelsey, UF’s top backup linebacker, did not travel with the team for a game. Kelsey was serving a one-game suspension for violating University Athletic Association rules. Junior RB Eugene McCaslin of Tampa , was suspended for the first three games for violating team rules.
Fall, 1998 (Source, Various) Dock Pollard has been suspended three times for skipping class.
January, 1998 (Source: Various) - Florida tight end Dwight Edge is arrested on misdemeanor battery charges. Later, coach Steve Spurrier reinstates tight end Dwight Edge for spring drills after he agreed to enter a deferred pretrial intervention program. Steve Spurrier took undisclosed disciplinary action during spring practice.
January, 1998 (Source: Sun-Sentinel [Ft. Lauderdale Fla.]) - University of Florida wide receiver Jamie Richardson was arrested and charged with aggravated battery, a second-degree felony, for his part in a fight at a downtown Gainesville nightclub. Richardson was accused of striking club employee Jonathan Harris, 22, on the back of the head several times with a closed fist, knocking Harris to the ground and striking him with a pool cue. The arrest occurred just 23 days after Richardson came off a six-month probation, stemming from a no-contest plea to misdemeanor battery charges.
November, 1997 (Source:USA Today) Football player Pat Browning was arrested on theft charges last November. Charges were dropped. . . .
August, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) Anthony Mitchell, a defensive end, was charged with misdemeanor battery after he was accused of shoving another student into a dorm room wall in April. was suspended for the season opener against Southern Mississippi on Aug. 30.
August, 1997 (Source: Sun-Sentinel [Ft. Lauderdale Fla.]) - Four days before the start of fall practice, defensive tackle Ernie Badeaux left the Florida team transferred to Nichols State. According to published reports, the national champion Gators kicked Badeaux off the team, allegedly for violence off the field. Badeaux had off-field problems since he arrived in Gainesville . He got off to a shaky start when he hit another student in the back of the head outside a bar. His last incident reportedly involved another case of physical abuse.
February, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - Guard Ryan Kalich, who started every game on the offensive line in 1996 pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence and faces a year of probation and six months without his driver’s license. Kalich, 20, was arrested Feb. 2 after his car collided with a car driven by an off-duty police officer.Breathalyzer tests showed his blood-alcohol level to be more than twice the legal limit. He was suspended from the season opener against Southern Mississippi .
August, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - Zach Zedalis was suspended two games for having a BB gun in his dorm room. Zedalis said the BB gun was not his, but the university’s Student Judicial Affairs Committee denied his appeal twice.
March, 1997 (Source: St. Petersburg Times) - A 19-year-old UF student filed a sworn complaint of felony sexual battery against Elijah Williams. The state attorney’s office declined to press formal charges. Williams instead was charged with a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer without violence, accusing him of lying to investigating police and encouraging witnesses to do the same. Williams pleaded no contest last month and is serving 90 days of non-reporting probation, in addition to paying court costs. Elijah Williams was suspended from the season opener.

Wow, and isn't it the Gator fans who constantly pick on Florida State, Tennessee and South Carolina also? My goodness, no surer defense mechanism exists than to project your own failing onto others! Well done Gator fans!

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