Meyer goes soft on Spikes with half-game suspension
Urban Meyer just took, "Stand by your man," a little too far.
Florida coach Urban Meyer’s apparent policy on eye-gouging is now clear. Only a successful blinding or maiming can result in a full-game suspension.
Meyer suspended Brandon Spikes for only the first half of the Gators’ next game against Vanderbilt for eye-gouging Georgia running back Washaun Ealey.
I’m not sure if missing one half of a Vanderbilt game really qualifies as discipline. But apparently SEC commissioner Mike Slive didn’t want to get in Meyer’s way on this one. I guess Slive only worries about the real serious issues: sound bites about referees, not trivial matters like jamming fingers into eyeballs.
What happened Saturday certainly did not affect the outcome of Georgia’s 41-17 loss to Florida. The Bulldogs themselves have devolved into one of the nation’s most-penalized and least-disciplined teams. Meyer felt compelled to say the linebacker was retaliating for earlier incidents that resulted in him having his helmet knocked off and being poked in the eye (he said).
But Spikes’ act was on another level.
“I don’t condone that,” Meyer told reporters in Florida. “I understand what goes on on the football [field], but there’s no place for that. We’re going to suspend Brandon for the first half of the Vanderbilt game. I spoke with him. That’s not who he is. That’s not who we are. He got caught up in emotion.”
Ealey was not available for comment Monday. It was a day off for Georgia players (the NCAA mandates one day off per week for players). Coach Mark Richt declined comment on the incident Sunday night.
But that didn’t stop this from snowballing into a national story Monday. The strongest comments came from Mike Golic, co-host of ESPN’s morning, “Mike and Mike” radio show. Golic has some credibility. He was a defensive lineman at Notre Dame and an eight-year NFL veteran. He has been at the bottom of a few of these piles. So what does it mean when he calls this, “one of the biggest chicken-bleep things I’ve seen in my life”?
And what does it mean when he says it was worse than when Oregon’s LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State’s Byron Hout in the season opener? (Blount initially was suspended for the full season by Oregon. But several weeks later the school announced a tentative reinstatement, and he may return this week against Stanford.)
“You can clearly see Brandon Spikes’ fingers go into the facemask of the running back for Georgia, and, I don’t mean just go in there — go in there and twist around,” Golic said. “It is a bad looking eye-gouge. And I know this guy is a tough player and I know he hits and I know he’s considered one of the best linebackers. But that’s one of the biggest chicken-bleep things I’ve seen in my life. Ever. Ever! To be that good of a player and have to do that – stick your fingers in a facemask and try to blind a guy, eye-gouge him, is pathetic, Brandon! Pathetic, that you would do it!
“There needs to be some disciplinary action. Everybody wants to talk about LeGarrette Blount from Oregon for punching that kid. I’ll tell you what. I’ll take the punch over this garbage. Any day of the week. Any day of the week over that garbage on the field of sticking your fingers in somebody’s facemask and trying to blind him. Stick your fingers in their eye? Are you kidding me…?”
Golic later said: “What a horrible move that is. What a classless, unsportsmanlike move that is.”
Meyer said his wife and defensive coordinator Charlie Strong both mentioned the Spikes’ incident to him. His initial reaction was to move on. Then he saw a replay of the incident decided to speak to Spikes about it.
But his initial balking indicates he didn’t want to suspend Spikes at all.
“Very emotional things happened in that game in particular that were not good for either side,” Meyer said, “but the bottom line is we’re Florida and he’s Brandon Spikes and we expect certain things.”
Nice speech. But it would’ve meant more if there was some action to back it up.
If you haven’t seen video of the play, you can view it here.
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1,082 comments Add your comment
Sandals68
November 3rd, 2009
3:44 pm
I’m glad this happened. It shows Tim Tebow for the classless act that he is. Please no more stories about what a child of Christ, if not the Saviour Himself, he is. Four years in Florida have given him the moral sense of any strip club manager in Gainesville.
Idiot UGA Fan
November 3rd, 2009
3:48 pm
Looks like Mike Slive got to Ealey.
grrrrtrfan
November 3rd, 2009
3:56 pm
Paul’s Johnson…surely its not because he DID spit in Spikes’ face, and there WAS a systematic direction to poke Spikes, Tebow and as many others as possible eyes out of their sockets…
http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/2009/11/03/washaun-ealey-clearly-hates-georgia-football-and-common-decency/
gator dawgpounder
November 3rd, 2009
4:01 pm
I’m back Richard, not stupid enough to know that what my momma said is true, your real name is Tina. He didn’t bite it off because his pinky reminded him of you.
Dawg Tired
November 3rd, 2009
4:01 pm
I thought this blog was about the punishment or lack thereof for gouging another players eyes. I guess I was wrong again. Or could it be I’m right simply because I can read? Many have committed on the Great Gouging. However, some see this to somehow be about how great UF has been the last 4 – 5 years. Wow! These folk have a short memory. I was a season ticket holder in the 70’s and 80’s before moving out-of-state. Trust me folks, this is cyclical. What goes around comes around.
grrrrtrfan
November 3rd, 2009
4:02 pm
Sandals68 has their savior’s mixed up….easy to do when you have 22 of them…something leg-humpers wouldn’t know anything about…
Paul's Johnson
November 3rd, 2009
4:11 pm
grrrrtrfan:
“surely its not because he DID spit in Spikes’ face, and there WAS a systematic direction to poke Spikes, Tebow and as many others as possible eyes out of their sockets…”
I have yet to see a video of any of this and you want to know why? Because none exist.
gator dawgpounder
November 3rd, 2009
4:18 pm
You haven’t seen it because you are watching Porn films of your sister and your momma; oh there the same person.
Jeff Schultz and his followers
November 3rd, 2009
4:24 pm
We can too count to potato.
Paul's Johnson
November 3rd, 2009
4:30 pm
gator dawgpounder:
“oh there the same person.”
Learn basic grammar, you pole smoker.
Jesse Jackson
November 3rd, 2009
4:45 pm
Who is this Spikes guy? He white?
Hal
November 3rd, 2009
5:01 pm
first of all gtrrrrrr how about posting something, anything written by a credible journalist?
Barry Jay
November 3rd, 2009
5:07 pm
TampaGator,
No one denies Nick Williams was wrong. We all know Spikes says he was retaliating. Perhaps Nick Williams was retaliating for something a Gator did.You can speculate all day. We all know there are dirty plays in every game.
It just so happens this one goes beyond knocking someone to the ground. That is an action that happens a hundred times a game. This is eye gouging…an action that could damage something as precious as vision. Are you really trying to defend that purposeful, admitted act by Spikes? I thought you were better than the mindless homers who come to these blogs. There is no excuse and you should not try to deflect blame for this heinous act by talking about things that do not even compare.
You are as classless as your coach.
Brian
November 3rd, 2009
5:09 pm
Admitted? Did I miss something? Did Spikes admit to eye-gouging?
Barry Jay
November 3rd, 2009
5:11 pm
“In a violent sport such as football, we need to make exceptions for such violence. Players get out of control on occasion. This was one of them. Keeping Mr. Sikes out of the first half of the game against Vandy inflicts a rather stiff penalty on the Gators. Sikes is the heart and soul of that defense and Florida is fighting to maintain its lofty standing among football fans everywhere.”
Players do get out of control sometimes…but that results in a stupid play like Nick Williams or a late hit. It does not result in a player jumping a pile after the play is dead and then thrusting his hand inside a small opening in a facemask. What Spikes did was premeditate and egregious. It is the same as throwing a punch at a player.
It is gutless for the SEC to ignore this by agreeing to a slap on the hand for Spikes. It is gutless and classless. The SEC has no credibility left. UF fans who defend this by casting aspersions are gutless and classless themselves.
Barry Jay
November 3rd, 2009
5:19 pm
I am sick of the SEC and Mike Slive. Spikes deserved much, much more than a half game suspension. The fact that the SEC agreed with Meyer on this proves the bias that seems to ignore or look the other way when it comes to Tebow’s on field celebrations after TD’s and the other violations of the rules UF commits. Some teams in the SEC regularly get phantom penalties and lead the nation in penalty yards. Others can let their players eye gouge and basically get away with it.
The SEC is biased and gutless. Mike Slive should step down in disgrace.
Urban Meyer
November 3rd, 2009
5:24 pm
Hey guys, I just want to say that I am just doing my job. My job is preparing these young men for the next level. And I think I have done a mighty fine job with Spikes, I think he is now ready or the NFL after what I saw Saturday. He should fit right in. With a little more work he will be another Ray Lewis, dont you agree?
Buckeyeboy52
November 3rd, 2009
5:49 pm
I wish that he would have gouged my eye. I couldn’t stand to watch much more of it.
Ealey is ok. We got our butts handed to us. We have a lot bigger things to worry about that that idiot.
Barry Jay
November 3rd, 2009
6:16 pm
I think the response by so many fans that this incident is “not a big deal” is indicative of a much more serious problem in our society.
What Spikes did, according to one national commentator, was “assault”. He didn’t respond to what Ealey did on that play. This was cold, premeditated revenge and nothing…not Ealey’s previous behavior or the wrong inflicted on another teamate…nothing excuses it.
Most people are shocked that he only received a half game suspension. This should tell you something. The SEC is biased. If a player at UGA or UT had done this, they would have been suspended for the season. The SEC would have decided to “make an example” of him. I guess becuase UF is so good, and since the SEC allows Tebow to commit unsportsmanlike conduct after every TD, they have to let Spikes assault another player and basically get away with it.
The SEC has disgraced themselves by accepting Meyer’s self imposed penalty. Slive has show his true colors.
Redo man
November 3rd, 2009
6:26 pm
HAL, yes you are, but you are not the only racist blogging on here.
Darius
November 3rd, 2009
6:48 pm
LOL @ Schultz, Barnhart, and the Dawg fans … I guess you all should have checked with Ealey before running off at the mouths. So, Ealey says Spikes never even touched his eyes … much less hurt them. Ealey also admits that the Dawgs do the same kind of stuff as it is part of football. Nothing like getting served hard by one of your own.
In summary, Ealey told all you fat, balding, never played a sport in your life, armchair QBs to shut your pieholes.
Cautiously Optimistic
November 3rd, 2009
8:16 pm
I dont believe Ealey. I think he said that out of sportsmanship or whatever to help keeps Spikes out of trouble. Why else would he have his hands in his helmet………..to give him a wet willie? Give me a break.
Btw UF probably gives each other wet willies in the showers based on the way they hug and kiss each other on the sidelines.
bigjawn
November 3rd, 2009
8:21 pm
Simple observation–Florida is better than UGA this year, and has had our number for many years, but to say our football program is garbage compared to UF’s is ludicrous, and it shows how short your memories are. UGA ranks third in SEC titles–behind Tennessee and Alabama. Also, we still lead the all-time series against Florida. The margin is rapidly decreasing, but if we’re garbage and have beaten you more than you have beaten us, what does that make you? And, finally, Florida fans are the most obnoxious, insufferable jacka$$es I have ever encountered. Do you know how stupid the “chomp” looks? Do you? Seriously.
Cautiously Optimistic
November 3rd, 2009
8:34 pm
To follow up my last post, maybe Spikes didn’t touch his eyes but the intent sure appeared to be there.
Sambad
November 3rd, 2009
8:53 pm
There is no greater scum than a Gator fan, Gator player or Urban Crier. I called Slive(SLIME) and asked him why he couldn’t get a pair of balls and make the proper call and suspend Kissboy Spikes for a full game. Of course not, since he is a fan of Florida and Alabama since he wants two top ranked teams to meet in Atlanta. We won’t have a good conference(honest officiating and fairness from Slime) until he is gone. It is horrible to see calls being suppressed against these two teams since he has an agenda.
Middle Georgia Bulldawg
November 4th, 2009
9:23 am
The difference, no one seems to be addressing, between the supposed retaliation of Spikes being eye-gouged and Spikes eye-gouging Ealey is this;
Spikes was standing up, face to face with his eye gouger and had the ability to defend himself or back away. Ealey was pinned to the ground with a 250 man on top of him with his arms at his side, also pinned down. Ealey could not defend himself as Spikes could.
This is the difference between the two incidences that makes Spikes action that of a coward and bully which we all despise. If the roles were reversed, I would have hoped our Coach would have taken it much more seriously than Coach Myers has.
Yellow Fuzz
November 4th, 2009
1:32 pm
This just in, Georgia just accepted an invitation to play in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl in Northern Louisiana (Shreveport). As a payout, Georgia will receive $990,000 and 75 free weedwackers, one for every Parks and Recreation Major in the program.
Georgia Tech will play in THEIR conference championship game (sunny Tampa Florida) in hopes of advancing to the BCS Orange Bowl (sunnier Miami Florida). As a payout, Georgia Tech could receive $1,490,000 and 75 free deep sea fishing excursions. Georgia Tech plans to watch georgia’s bowl game on December 28th from its hotel over looking Key Largo.
Look at the Weedwackers falling from the sky!
Look at the Weedwackers falling from the sky!
Yellow Fuzz
November 4th, 2009
5:58 pm
Now on a more serious note, I wish Tech would have as solid a record as UGA has had over the past ten years. I realize that PJ is benefitting from being the new guy on the block. Our offensive scheme is a great gimmick, but will eventually lose its novelty.
I think UGA fans who whine about Mark Richt are crazy. Better appreciate what you have. Otherwise, you could be like Tech the past ten years.
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