A Sea Of Red

Florida's Meyer rips reporter in defense of player

By MARK LONG, AP Sports Writer – 38 mins ago

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – With a stern look and some finger pointing, Florida coach Urban Meyer had harsh words for a reporter following spring practice Wednesday.

Meyer, speaking for the first time in a week, confronted an Orlando Sentinel reporter and defended receiver Deonte Thompson.

It was unclear why Meyer took issue with the Sentinel's story.

Reporter Jeremy Fowler quoted Thompson as referring to John Brantley as "a real quarterback," in comparison to Tim Tebow.

The exchange was caught on video, captured by a photographer and witnessed by a dozen or more people — including several fans leaving spring practice.

"You'll be out of practice — you understand that? — if you do that again," Meyer told the reporter. "I told you five years ago: Don't mess with our players. Don't do it. You did it. You do it one more time and the Orlando Sentinel's not welcome here ever again. Is that clear? It's yes or no."

Full Story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100325/ap_ ... ngry_meyer

Trouble in paradise? That reporter did absolutely nothing wrong. If Urban has a gripe, it should be with his receiver.

Perhaps another of his 24-hour retirements is due.

I'm surprised it took you so long to show up, Sly. Figured your "chance to hate on Florida" radar would have woke you up in the night.

It could be worse...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMmbUmKN0E

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Saw it yesterday and let it slide. But since the topic is in play, it opens up a number of cans of worms that I'd be happy to dive into.

So what think ye, Gator Nation?

Sly Fox wrote:Saw it yesterday and let it slide. But since the topic is in play, it opens up a number of cans of worms that I'd be happy to dive into.

So what think ye, Gator Nation?

As a part of Gator Nation... I dont care. Actually, I like it. Only because I know the Orlando Sentential, I know they do a lot of things that are more focused on the negative and try to just write dirt more than provide news most times. Obviously this guy had been warned before about players and such. Its Meyers practice, he allows whatever he wants even if anyone doesnt think its "right" or "fair". College players cant really go after a reporter for doing those things, Coaches can, and as a college coach you are promising to look out for your players almost as a parent would as most of them leave home for the first time. Urban had to look at this kids parents at some point and say "I promise to do whats best for your son, I promise to expect responsibility from them and treat him as an adult, but also look out for him just as you would as his parent." (or something along those lines )

The only player being looked out for here is getting ready for the draft. And Urban greatly limits access to the players so if in the brief moments when the media is allowed some access he can't keep his players from saying things that embarrass the program then it seems to me he's being a lousy "dad".

This is MUCH worse than the Mike Gundy situation. In that case, Gundy was defending a player against personal attacks based on the opinion of a writer. In this case, the coach is attacking a writer for simply stating what was said and heard by everyone in a media availability. This is the coach WAY overstepping his bounds unlike Gundy where he only went over the top in how he delivered his verbal assault on the OKC lady.

Either Urban's head has reached epic Bob Stoops standards or he simply needs someone in authority to sit him down and put things in perspective. Personally I think both are true but Urban clearly doesn't have AD or President/Chancellor who has the confidence to tell him when he is overstepping his boundaries.

Considering his recent health history, I have feeling this is going to end badly if something doesn't change soon. Hopefully the negative exposure from this incident will be what his family needs to convince to really get help.

The Sentinel has always been a smear paper, just read Bianchi once or twice and you'll figure that out quickly.

So Urbs undressed a reporter verbally? Who cares. Woody Hayes slugged an opposing player and he is still an icon in Suckeye-land.

g-webb1994 wrote:The Sentinel has always been a smear paper, just read Bianchi once or twice and you'll figure that out quickly.

So Urbs undressed a reporter verbally? Who cares. Woody Hayes slugged an opposing player and he is still an icon in Suckeye-land.

The Sentinel has always been a cheerleader for the UF programs. Bianchi is a UF lover, alumni.

"You never know with Tim," Thompson said. "He can bolt. You'll think he's running, but then he'll just come up and pass it to you. You just have to be ready at all times. With Brantley, everything's with rhythm, time. Like, you know what I mean, a real quarterback."

Thompson was embarrassed by the remark and the attention it got, mostly because he likes Tebow and never wanted to say anything negative about him.

The reporter was trying to make a Tebow issue where there wasn't one. The kid used one wrong word and it turned into a "Lets make a big story because a UF player talked down on Tebow." Dude was trying to sell copies, not report what the kid said. I agree with Urban.

ToTheLeft wrote:

"You never know with Tim," Thompson said. "He can bolt. You'll think he's running, but then he'll just come up and pass it to you. You just have to be ready at all times. With Brantley, everything's with rhythm, time. Like, you know what I mean, a real quarterback."

Thompson was embarrassed by the remark and the attention it got, mostly because he likes Tebow and never wanted to say anything negative about him.

The reporter was trying to make a Tebow issue where there wasn't one. The kid used one wrong word and it turned into a "Lets make a big story because a UF player talked down on Tebow." Dude was trying to sell copies, not report what the kid said. I agree with Urban.

as much as I can't stand UF and TGBGB can attest to this, Lefty is exactly right. the Kid meant something different and the reporter spun what he said and made it negative towards tebow. The reporter knew exactly what he meant but didn't care.

I LOVE Urban.....but honestly all the reporter did was put the entire quote in the article...sure Thompson meant "prototypical QB" but he didnt say that....it wasnt a case of the reporter only putting a certain quote out there leaving out the real meat of the quote....he posted the whole thing....you cant get mad at a reporter for doing that.

I think Meyer was totally out of line regardless, but I'm pretty sure what he was upset about was not the newspaper article, which quoted the player's entire statement accurately. Prior to that Fowler had tweeted "Florida WR says Tebo not a real QB" (or something close to that). I do believe that was playing a bit fast and loose with what the kid was saying, and it was certainly out of context.

What he is taking offense at is that all his competitors are having field day with Tebow not being developed for the NFL under him. The comment only further understated what everybody is thinking ... Urban is all about Urban and not helping his players get ready for the next level.

Sly Fox wrote:What he is taking offense at is that all his competitors are having field day with Tebow not being developed for the NFL under him. The comment only further understated what everybody is thinking ... Urban is all about Urban and not helping his players get ready for the next level.

I don't necessarily disagree, but I don't believe that a college coach's priority should be to prepare his players for their pro career. It should be to win. The 2 are obviously not mutually exclusive, and you could argue that "fixing" Tebow's release might have made Florida a better team, which is a valid criticism of Meyer and his staff. Of course, when you are dealing with the level of recruits Florida is, they all think (rightly or wrongly) that they are NFL prospects, so any real or perceived defeciency in getting players "NFL ready" could hurt recruiting.

I'm not disputing where Urban's priorities should lie, but you don't win unless you recruit among the elite. Those athletes are looking at who can help them get paid as much as winning trophies for a school. And other coaches are gleefully watching as Tebow struggles to learn how to throw the ball properly after four season under Meyer. Urban realizes this and that's why he is so concerned. Every shot Tebow as a pro is a shot at his development in Gainesville.

Sly Fox wrote: Urban is all about Urban and not helping his players get ready for the next level.

Good point. That Percy Harvin fella has no future in the league.

01LUGrad wrote:

Sly Fox wrote: Urban is all about Urban and not helping his players get ready for the next level.

Good point. That Percy Harvin fella has no future in the league.

Florida could be producing the next Joe Montana, and Sly wouldn't see it until it hit him like a ton of bricks. He's blinded by anti-East Coast bias, his media hype tendencies, and burnt orange.

Meyer needs to worry about his supposedly bad health and making sure his players don't say moronic stuff to the media rather than lashing out at reporters for reporting what moronic crap the players spout. Newspapers aren't supposed to be the whipping boys of the UF program to produce flowery propaganda to make the UF program look good no matter what - that's what the sports information/athletic communications/athletic media relations staff is for.