Brandon Spikes, Florida’s middle-linebacking cyborg, has incited the Vols faithful by calling their team “quitters.” As a Gator fan, and a man fearful of Brandon Sikes (have you seen this guy?), SNL cannot call into question the viability of this tactic. That said members of the flock can decide for themselves as the article, which can be found on Florida Today, is set forth below for your review:
Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes said after Monday’s practice Tennessee “quit playing” in last year’s 59-20 loss to the Gators in Gainesville.
The two teams meet again at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Knoxville.
“They kind of gave up,” Spikes said. “Our whole program is about, backed up against the wall, you’ve got to keep fighting. We saw them give up. . . . They quit playing. I know they are going to be pretty jacked up (this time).”
Former UF special teams player Derek Baldry, who served two tours of duty in the Middle East during a four-year Army stint before coming to Florida as a walk on, told a story after the game that one of the Volunteers’ players told him he wasn’t going to try to block an extra-point attempt late in the game.
While Spikes and several other players felt Tennessee stopped playing hard at the end, it was Baldry’s story that gained a lot of attention. A replay of the extra-point showed at least one Vols‘ player stood up and didn’t try to rush the kick.
“That kind of surprised me, for him saying I don’t want to rush,” Spikes said. “But I know they are not really as tough as us.”
Spikes said a lot of players on the team talked about the incident afterward. He said he’d never seen a team quit, at least, “not on this level.” Relayed Baldry’s comments, Volunteer players disputed anyone quit playing.
But Spikes said he wasn’t surprised Tennessee quit last year, adding, “I’ve seen them do the same thing (before).”
SNL expects Spikes to issue a retraction after being admonished by UF’s other cyborg, Coach Meyer. In the interim, this should be fun.
-So Sayeth the Shepherd
