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Gators Beat: Death Reminds UF To Take Nothing For Granted

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 16, 2007

GAINESVILLE - The members of the University of Florida football team returned to work Monday minus one teammate.

They practiced without Michael 'Sunshine' Guilford, the redshirt freshman walk-on quarterback who died early Friday morning in a motorcycle crash. And though Guilford hadn't played a down all season, his death will affect the Gators.

Those closest to Guilford will be devastated, but even those who didn't know him well will feel the aftershocks. College-aged men rarely get reminded of their mortality. When they do, the weight of the realization - I won't live forever - is heavier than anything they've ever bench-pressed or squatted.

Every time a young athlete dies, I think back to January 1996. The Lake Mary High wrestling team held its first practice following winter break, and our coaches decided we needed to run extra before practice to sweat off some of that turkey and dressing.

After a mile and a quarter, a junior named Matt Ranck collapsed. Matt was a prankster - the kind of guy who'd yell 'Banzai' before he tackled you in the locker room - so we told him to get up. The joke wasn't funny.

He wasn't joking.

Matt's heart stopped on that track. It never started again.

Matt was a straight-A student who had shaved his head to keep the promise he made to all those who elected him student-body vice president. He had limitless potential; he could have become a doctor, a lawyer, a scientist or a senator.

Hearing Florida graduate assistant coach Sean Cronin and quarterback Tim Tebow talk about Guilford reminded me of the way we talked about Matt. Guilford had his entire life in front of him. If he had the guts to take on some of the nation's biggest, fastest athletes every day at practice, just imagine what he could have accomplished after college.

Guilford's teammates may wrestle with a question - What if today is it for me? - often during the next few weeks. After a while, the Gators won't wonder constantly. Still, the question will arise every so often. Maybe on a starry night when they look up and hope there is indeed a heaven. Maybe when they're driving to a restaurant with their girlfriend in the passenger seat and a diamond ring in the glove compartment.

Cris Carter, the former NFL receiver who lost teammates Jerome Brown (car crash) and Korey Stringer (heat stroke) during his playing days, told them during a talk Monday morning to make the most of each day they have. As my teammates and I did after Matt Ranck's death, Guilford's teammates will learn that nothing in life is guaranteed. Not championships. Not financial prosperity. Not even tomorrow.

Fortunately, they won't have to learn the lesson by themselves. That's the beauty of a team. Teammates cry together. They suffer together. They also inspire one another.

This week, as the Gators prepare for Kentucky, they'll be inspired by the one teammate whose locker sits vacant.

'Guilford would want us to go and play football,' Tebow said. 'That was the No. 1 thing he wanted to do. We'll play for him.'

Reporter Andy Staples can be

reached at (352) 262-3719

or astaples@tampatrib.com.

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