TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Spikes' suspension not a black eye for UF

Associated Press file photo

Spikes' biggest mistake was forgetting that when you play for a program like Florida, nothing goes unnoticed, columnist Joe Henderson writes.

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOE HENDERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 2, 2009

Updated: 11/05/2009 07:50 am

I 'm sure by now you've seen the video clip of Florida Gators linebacker and defensive captain Brandon Spikes poking his fingers inside the helmet of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey during a scrum Saturday. It is "must-click TV" in cyberspace.

To the casual observer it looks like Spikes was trying to rip Ealey's eyeballs out of their sockets, which I suppose he probably was.

Bad Brandon.

Bad, bad Brandon.

He shouldn't have done that. His head coach, Urban Meyer, didn't think he should have done that either. You can't go around trying to poke out the eye of another player, even if he is from Georgia. On Monday, Meyer suspended Spikes for the first half of Saturday's game against Vanderbilt.

Thus ends Florida's chance to repeat as national champion.

I'm just kidding.

Back away from the e-mail program. Remove your hand from the "send" button. Meyer gave a proportional response. It's a two-bit punishment for a two-bit offense, and that's just as it should be. Given the same situation, no coach in America would have been any tougher. I understand not everyone will agree with that.

For those who want to take this as the latest evidence that Meyer is soft on crime, though, consider this: If you suspend every player who gouged, pulled, poked or otherwise did things they aren't supposed to during pileups, there would be no games played. We'd all have to spend Saturdays raking leaves.

That doesn't make what Spikes did right, but it's also the way the game is played.

Earlier in the game, Georgia got one of its three personal fouls when a player ripped Spikes' helmet off. Meyer said Spikes complained that his eye was poked during the exchange, which it probably was. Spikes' biggest mistake was forgetting that when you play for a program like Florida, nothing goes unnoticed on the football field and people are always going to talk.

Once the chatter started, Meyer had to do something. Spikes seems to understand that.

"I accept responsibility for my actions and I accept the consequences of my actions. I would like to apologize to my team and the coaching staff and Washaun Ealey," he said in a statement. "Football is a very physical and emotional game, but there is no excuse for my actions."

Old-timers would laugh at the notion of Spikes being docked even a half-game for something like this. The stories of biting, punching and gouging at the bottom of a pile are a standard part of football lore and it has been that way since the first guys put on a pair of shoulder pads.

I suspect Meyer didn't want to do anything, to tell you the truth, but once the cameras caught Spikes in the act he probably didn't have a choice.

"We understand the game of football," Meyer told reporters in Gainesville. "Some of us have played it. Very emotional things happened in that game in particular that were not good for either side, but the bottom line is we're Florida and he's Brandon Spikes and we expect certain things. He understands."

That's the right perspective. I love rushing to judgment as much as anyone, but I just can't get worked up about this. I certainly can't come close to agreeing with ESPN talking head (and former NFL player) Mike Golic, who called it a "classless, unsportsmanlike move."

That's a bit harsh.

It certainly wasn't sportsmanlike, but very little that goes on during a Florida-Georgia game would fit that description. It wasn't sportsmanlike when Georgia rushed the field after scoring a touchdown two years ago. It wasn't sportsmanlike when Meyer retaliated last year by calling a pair of timeouts in the final minute of a lopsided win.

But classless? Please.

It was just football.

Brandon Spikes got caught. He pays the price.

Move on.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT