Good riddance. See ya. A. Leon Polhill, Gator
________________________________ From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> To: gatortalk googlegroups <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 24, 2009 8:41:52 AM Subject: [gatortalk] RE: [gatornews] [Post & Courier]: FYI -- C.J. Spiller enters his senior season as the featured back with a Heisman campaign If Spiller had come to UF - perhaps he wouldn't have so many regrets ... -------- Original Message -------- >Subject: [gatornews] [Post & Courier]: FYI -- C.J. Spiller enters his >senior season as the featured back with a Heisman campaign >From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> >Date: Mon, August 24, 2009 8:20 am >To: [email protected] > > >C.J. Spiller enters his senior season as the featured back with a Heisman >campaign >By Travis Sawchik >Sunday, August 23, 2009 > > >C.J. Spiller > >C.J. Spiller returned to an old routine this summer: early-morning jogs around >his hometown of Lake Butler, Fla., a practice he'd tossed aside prior to his >freshman season — his best season. >The last few summers the relaxed runs were shelved in favor more explosive >training exercises: short sprints, running up inclines. The return to the >tours of his sleepy hometown (population: 1,900) in north-central Florida, its >Main Street storefronts reminiscent much of Clemson, allowed him to think, to >reflect which a more energy-intensive workout precluded. >'I was just meditating about the season, envisioning things for the team that >we can accomplish,' Spiller said, 'being down in Tampa and winning an ACC >championship ... I want to get a chance to see what it feels like in the >locker room after winning a title.' >He says he thought little about passing up the NFL Draft, though he said he >had a first-round grade. He thought about the Spiller-for-Heisman campaign the >school was to launch. The naturally reserved Spiller thought about the vocal, >motivational role Dabo Swinney persuaded him to undertake. Something Spiller >had already entertained. He knew he had star talent, he thought about how he >could also become a galvanizing leader, how he could become legendary. >Spiller also thought about regrets. >Perhaps his decision to return was sealed in his subconscious after the >disaster that was last season's opener against Alabama. >He was upset over the following words written and said about his former head >coach Tommy Bowden. It was on the team he thought. How they, how he, allowed >the season to spiral out of control. >Crushed, 34-10, by Alabama on Aug. 30, the Tigers lost again, at home, to >Maryland on Sept. 27. On the same day Florida lost at home to Mississippi. >Spiller watched his old friend Tim Tebow, the Florida quarterback, deliver a >post-game address replayed from coast to coast. Spiller knows Tebow's speech >well, like speechwriters know the Gettysburg Address: >'You have never seen any player in the entire country play as hard as I will >play the rest of this season and you'll never see someone push the rest of the >team as hard as I will push everybody the rest of this season, and you'll >never see a team play harder than we will the rest of this season.' >To Spiller, 'The Promise' speech contained moving, to-the-point words from >Tebow, who he watched at Ponte Vedra Beach, 50 miles east of Lake Butler, >during their high school days. The former Heisman winner was a player Spiller >always admired from a distance, a devout Christian like himself. >Tebow's words were immortalized on a plaque outside the new Florida football >headquarters this spring after the Gators went on to win the national title. >While Tebow rallied his team, at Clemson, Spiller was quiet. >Clemson lost its next two games at Wake Forest and home against Georgia Tech, >after which Bowden was out. >'I should have said something after the Alabama game,' Spiller said, 'I could >have got (a quote) memorialized. It just showed (Tebow) is not afraid to speak >out and stick up for teammates. Not only did he speak up, he went out there >and backed it up. >'I think about that speech every time we face adversity. How he just grasped >his teammates by making that statement and his teammates followed.' >Spiller made his own promise — a promise to speak up, to be a leader in all >ways. >He was not concerned about his new on-the-field requirements, entering his >senior season in a feature-back role for the first time. >He's been healthy, playing in 38 of 39 games the last three seasons. The staff >is unconcerned with his 5-11, 195-pound body holding up since he is so elusive >and able to avoid contact. He's taken on some of Marshall Faulk's unusual >demanding workouts and studies tape of the versatile former NFL star, whom he >considers similar to himself. He's even studied footage of past NFL legends >like Jim Brown and Walter Payton. >He expects to produce career-best numbers in what he thinks will be an >explosive offense. He needs only 921 all-purpose yards to break Leon Johnson's >(North Carolina, 1995) ACC mark. >If all goes according to plan, he should easily eclipse his career-best marks >of 938 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns set as a freshman, when he rushed for >7.3 yards a carry, the best average in the ACC since Warrick Dunn averaged 7.5 >yards per carry in 1995 at Florida State. >Spiller admires Dunn for his off-the-field work, and someone he used to >pretend to be in youth football. >While such quantifiable, physical skills are well documented, Swinney and >offensive coordinator Billy Napier kept on Spiller to become more vocal, more >assertive. Leadership is especially necessary for a Tigers' offense featuring >a rookie quarterback and inexperience at receiver. >'That demeanor, that part of his personality is coming into a effect lately,' >Napier said. 'You've got to constantly remind him ‘Hey, guess what C.J. guys >are watching you to see how you respond in certain situations. If you can have >a great attitude and really be a vocal guy then you have a chance to be a >great leader.' >'I think (Ohio State) coach (Jim) Tressel said the best football teams he's >been around are when the best players are the hardest workers and I think that >is the case with C.J. Spiller.' >Swinney sees growth. >'Little things, like I'll see him during stretch go encourage all his >teammates,' Swinney said. 'I've seen him meet with the offensive line. I'll >see him be a little more assertive at times. I'll see his body language >improve when he is getting his butt chewed out for something or he made a >mistake.' >Spiller said he's sat in on offensive line meetings to better understand their >calls, which he thinks will make him more effective. On off days, sophomore >Jamie Harper said Spiller calls the backs in for extra film work and drills. >'I'm laid back, quiet, not that outspoken. I let my action speak,' Spiller >said. 'This year coach Swinney told me if I'm vocal they'll listen to what I >have to say. So that's something I'm trying to adjust to ... I see what Tim >does to get the most out of his team. I try to follow him as much as I can.' >Worth ethic has never been an issue with Spiller, who has earned Swinney's >highest praise as a player who 'has it and gives it.' >Spiller watched his mother work grueling shifts as a nurse, his devout >grandmother work as a high school janitor. His father drives dump trucks in >Miami. Spiller was even all-in while stocking shelves at Goody's during high >school. His maturation accelerated with the arrival of his daughter Shania, >now 3, as a freshman. >'Life is not all about me,' Spiller said. 'I have other people I have to look >out for. I have to make decisions that are not only going to affect me, but >everyone that surrounds me. (Shania) is the reason I work so hard at what I >do. You have to grow up pretty fast.' >Distance from his daughter and disappointment with the way his freshman season >ended, five carries in a loss to Kentucky in the Music City Bowl, nearly >prompted him to transfer to Florida. >He thinks about that from time to time. He says it was a moment of emotional >weakness, 'freshman jitters.' He's glad he stayed. He's glad he didn't try to >reestablish himself in Tebow's town. Like Tebow has done, he'd love to bring a >Heisman and a BCS trophy to his own backyard. >'I swing for the fence,' Spiller said. 'If you don't hit it over the fence you >can always hit it against the wall. >'I have a deep faith. I believe everything that was supposed to happen last >year, it can happen again this year.' > > >> > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
