SEC should consider suspending Florida’s Spikes
This shouldn’t distract from the fact Georgia was outplayed and outclassed in every way in Jacksonville – nor from the fact that the Bulldogs committed four personal fouls themselves and have devolved into one of the nation’s most-penalized and least disciplined teams.
But SEC officials should look seriously at suspending Florida linebacker Brandon Spikes.
By now, you’ve probably heard about or seen video of Spikes’ attempted eye-gouging of Georgia running back Washaun Ealey in the third quarter of Saturday’s game.
If not, here it is.
Take a look and then I’ll be back.
(UPDATE: The previous video has been removed by YouTube for copyright issues. This is another version — not as clear but clear enough.)
Pretty nasty, huh?
Now, I’m sure this sort of thing happens all the time at the bottom of the pile in the NFL. I’m guessing it also happens sometimes at the bottom of the pile in SEC games, particularly with players who project to the NFL (Spikes). But there really is no excuse for it.
Spikes might claim that his attack was retaliation for twice getting his helmet knocked off by Bulldogs players earlier in the game. But trying to jam one’s fingers into another guy’s eyes is WAY over the line.
So far, there has been no reaction from SEC officials. They tend to look at these things on Mondays, and I’m sure I was one of a hundred media members seeking a statement Sunday. The hope is that commissioner Mike Slive treats this at least as seriously as he does coaches who whine about officiating.
Florida coach Urban Meyer called Spikes a “very emotional player,” adding, “If that’s the case, I will have a very serious talk with him.”
Dogs coach Mark Richt said on his Sunday night conference call that he hadn’t seen the video: “I did have someone bring it to my attention that they thought that might have happened or whatever, but I don’t want to make any kind of comment on that particular incident.”
I’ll update this late if the SEC comes out with a statement.
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402 comments Add your comment
One tin soldier rides away
November 2nd, 2009
10:03 am
We will see what the lilly livered SEC has to say about this. Spikes is a Thug from the projects in Shelby NC. His first choice was UNC, but he could not make the grades to get in there. UNC says tht Fla took the tests for him and there was some hanky pankny on his transcripts. We will have to see how that plays out, but I think he was one of Urban’s first prize recruits.
Kick him now! Nothing else needs to be said.
grrrrtrfan
November 2nd, 2009
10:04 am
pottermb – jealous is the sincerest form of flattery. Just face it, your black helmets, sideline celebration, bye week excuses hold no water, just like your transparent whining about what Spikes did, while Nick Williams is clear to clearly hit Tebow VERY late and no call. I think that is the SEC does anything, they should investigate the systematic eye-gouging by the most penalized and least disciplined team in the SEC, that’s right…you…the leg-humpers.
FalconUGAFan
November 2nd, 2009
10:04 am
@greg That is simply not true. Fla has virtually owned us for the past 20ish meetings. Your program is clearly superior at this stage. There are a few games that boil our blood (Fla, GT, Tenn and Auburn to a point). So far we were owned by 2 of those teams and I see nothing that tells me the other 2 won’t. Clearly can’t you see that the fanbase is struggling with what is the best course of action? Is that sufficient validation? Go DAWGS!
Cameron Melson
November 2nd, 2009
10:05 am
I played college football and this is absolutely normal for pile ups and it was happening on both sides. Should he be suspended maybe, but then you would need to suspend 5 or 6 Ga players who were late hitting and positively doing this in the piles Spikes just got caught in the act. This is a part of football like it or not and BTW thats nothing compared to some of the stuff that went on in pile when I played ball, but yes I agree something should be done which is hard for me to say I am a gator fan.
Abdullah Abdullah
November 2nd, 2009
10:05 am
Do not suspend Brandon Spikes. Cut off his fingers. That will stop his nonsense.
Jill
November 2nd, 2009
10:06 am
Jennifer, I didnt say I was a gator..so dont assume anything…typical dog fan. I also didnt say what Spikes did wasnt wrong did I . All I asked was if the player that spit on him was getting suspended too.
So anyone that is calling me out needs to get thier facts straight before you talk .
jabram
November 2nd, 2009
10:06 am
Why has no one discussed the blantant face mask by a UGA player in the beginning of the first quarter??? If that is not a suspendable offense then nothing should be. That was much more violent and certainly intentional.
One tin soldier rides away
November 2nd, 2009
10:07 am
Hey crybabiles, it is kind of like what the NCAA said to UF back inthe 80’s when you came a hair from the death penalty. If you are so superrior, why do you have to cheat. That crap from Spikes is not acceptable anywhere in the NCAA and maybe you should lose a player like that for the season to learn your lesson. Pointing to the sky, spiking the ball, gouging eyes. Illegal for 11 of the SEC teams anyway. Yes you did beat UGA soundly. So why cheat?
Darius
November 2nd, 2009
10:08 am
So, both Jeff and Tony feel a need to concentrate on the Spikes’ play rather than the problems in Athens. Seriously, having two of the AJC columnists writing about it is a bit much considering all of the things going on in Athens that could be written about.
Kudos to the AJC.
cut my nose shaving... fml
November 2nd, 2009
10:08 am
it just went national,
You are a clown, that is all.
AW
November 2nd, 2009
10:08 am
Everybody keeps talking about Spikes’s helmet getting “ripped off”. Please post video of the “ripping”. I saw his helmet get “knocked” off a couple of times. That happens sometimes, especially to a player like Spikes who sticks his head in hard on tackles (and by “sticks his head in” I mean he goes in hard like a linebacker should). If he’s tired of his hat coming off, he should cut his hair and get a better chin strap.
Also, nobody seems to mention the running play in the first quarter when Spikes ran up and hit Ealey in the face with his helmet after the play had been whistled dead for false start and everybody but Spikes stopped running.
Guy’s dirty. You can’t defend it. He should be suspended.
And for all of the people quoting reports of Gators being gouged, post links. I’ve looked through some FL papers (Gainesville Sun) and can’t find any mention of it.
To all you Gators defending him, your boy is on You Tube, and the story is national now. Here’s hoping he’s gone for the season.
Jeff Schultz
November 2nd, 2009
10:08 am
Abdullah — I think that’s a little extreme.
Ben Dover
November 2nd, 2009
10:09 am
As a Dawg fan I am disgusted. Partly by this felony that happened for the world to see. And partly by ANYONE who defends this behavior. If there is ANY footage of UGA players eye-gouging I say suspend them too!
Saint Richt
November 2nd, 2009
10:09 am
Let the Georgia crying continue… this kind of thing happens all the time but the video doesn’t lie. He should get suspended but please don’t act like this is so shocking! I guarantee you Odell Thurman pulled this type of thing when he played at Georgia.
Suspend him and move on. And Georgia, please stop with the whining cause its getting old.
Iron Dawg
November 2nd, 2009
10:10 am
If there is any tape of a UGA player, or any other teams players, doing this then they should be suspended as well. No sport can justify actions like this – this isn’t the NHL.
pottermb
November 2nd, 2009
10:10 am
Transparent whining? Spikes tried to seriously hurt another player. Thats not what college football is about. Do you not agree he is a thug and what he did was wrong? If not, you are a typical florida fan.
Bubba Sparxxx
November 2nd, 2009
10:10 am
How do you think this loss will affect UGA’s BCS ranking?
Saint Richt
November 2nd, 2009
10:10 am
Ben Dover, that is exactly what your Bulldogs have been doing all year. Fitting name.
pottermb
November 2nd, 2009
10:12 am
Maybe if Spikes would strap on his helmet like a normal player it would not fly off. What a cheap way to try and get a call.
JenniferGO Dawgs
November 2nd, 2009
10:13 am
SUSPEND THE JERK!
Jared's anger
November 2nd, 2009
10:13 am
Did Uga play this past weekend? IM a big Dennis Felton fan, im really looking forward to UGA basketball!!!!
Yellow=Piss
November 2nd, 2009
10:13 am
T-H-U-G-L-I-F-E Playa!
Saint Richt
November 2nd, 2009
10:14 am
Sorry, pottermb, football is all about trying to hurt the other team. Not in the way in which Spikes went about it, but the objective is to hurt the other team emotionally and physically. Anybody that is shocked by this has obviously never worn a jock strap in their life.
AW
November 2nd, 2009
10:15 am
For all you defending his actions:
It’s now also front-page news on ESPN.com.
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=4615866
Can’t sweep it under the rug when it’s on video. Although with a national championship on the line, if he misses more than the Vandy game I’ll be surprised. Just like Tom Osborne letting Lawrence Phillips (a.k.a. the girlfriend-beater) play in the national championship game after being arrested for domestic abuse.
Phillips came to a bad end. Hopefully Spikes will learn a lesson.
Summit Dawg
November 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
Hey Jill and Techbuzz”…….Kiss a big old fat bulldog’s reaend!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
UpstateJacket
November 2nd, 2009
10:16 am
He needs to be suspended. I am tired of the argument “everyone else does it”. I hate to sound like a first grade teacher but 2 wrongs don’t make a right. Cheating is cheating, a dirty play is a dirty play. It doesn’t matter if someone else is doing it – it’s wrong!!
Brew
November 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
It was classless. It’s always classless every time it’s done. It happens ALL THE TIME. He got caught. He should be suspended a game. Is there another FCS team on their schedule to use such a suspension?
Gator Mike
November 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
The dirty play by Spikes is terribly wrong, and it should be dealt with very harshly. Both Gator and Dawg Fans do not condone dirty play. It will be handled properly by Coach Meyer.
The beatdown was great, but the Dawgs sure can execute their silly dance.
Go Gators!
pottermb
November 2nd, 2009
10:17 am
Played for four years and must have had a classy coach. Never taught us to rip out peoples eyes.
Gator 4 Life
November 2nd, 2009
10:19 am
I won’t post any more video, but I will post the score. 41-17. Florida stomps GA again and again and again. At least Spikes was man enough to retaliate after the inbred GA thugs who cannot tackle ripped his helmet off twice and tried to decapitate Brandon James on the sideline and late hit Tebow. Don’t hate. You lost to the best team in football.
Yellow=Piss
November 2nd, 2009
10:19 am
I bet Spikes is a crack dealer too.
BigDogs
November 2nd, 2009
10:20 am
I’m sorry, but if Brandon Spikes is lying on top of you and “tries to gouge” your eyes, you are not going to pop up from that unfazed and participate in the very next play. Spikes is a big, tough dude, and he pretty easily could injure anybody he felt like injuring.
I have no idea what Spikes was doing in that pile, but if he actually intended to injure Ealey, Ealey would have been actually injured. All this discussion about Spikes’s intent is just conjecture. You can’t suspend someone on conjecture. Whining about this just makes us look like even bigger wusses than we looked on Saturday.
grrrrtrfan
November 2nd, 2009
10:21 am
If you want to suspend him than do it. Do it for the rest of the season. Florida would have probably beaten you MORE soundly if he weren’t playing (if you recall he hasn’t played in at least the majority of the last two wins. However, that was caught on tape, the others weren’t…so you get lucky. I appreciate the poodle fan above who said suspend him and lets move on…but to stop with the whining. If Meyer suspends him, for a game, you will whine its not enough and its Vandy, if he suspends him for 2 games, it won’t be enough, the season MIGHT make you feel better about stinking it up on the field. But ultimately, with or without him, you still lost SOUNDLY.
If ANYONE gets suspended for this play, I would like for you to agree, that if there were systematic complaints (and actual injuries) that you would support a full investigation of UGA’s alleged eye-gouging. If not YOU my friend are a typical leg-humper.
pottermb
November 2nd, 2009
10:22 am
The best team in football till you play alabama
Tony
November 2nd, 2009
10:22 am
The man should be thrown out of college football. A 2 game or rest of the season susupension is far to easy on the individual for this kind of behavior. That being said any player not wearing some form of eye protection in football in this day and age is just plain stupid. It’s akin to not wearing an athletic cup.
Doyle, Winder
November 2nd, 2009
10:25 am
Jill, why fuss at someone else for assuming when you have done the exact same thing about the so called spitting incident? And if it’s a fact, show us the freeking video so we can kick that piece of crap off my beloved Dogs!
Dbalcer
November 2nd, 2009
10:25 am
Spikes was not snapping his helmet. Brandon Boykin had his helmet torn off prior to Spikes being torn off and it was shown on TV and nothing said nor done. I don’t understand why Spikes wasn’t snapping his helmet. After his helmet came off the first time they showed closeups of him before plays and you could see the strap unsnapped. I felt like Spikes was trying to get others called for his helmet coming off or it didn’t fit. Either reason was stupid as he could have had a head injury. I also saw the gouging was could not believe it wasn’t called. The game was emotional and players need to step back and play football not stoop to that. If it was a GA player I would want him suspended too. Spikes needs to be suspended.
NC Dawg
November 2nd, 2009
10:26 am
If my recollection is correct, it all seemed start on one of the first offensive plays by GA. Either the play was stopped by the officials or it was a play for no gain, but Spikes threw a cheap shot forearm to Ealey’s helmet and Ealey went after Spikes in retaliation. Spikes then waited until Ealey was down under a pile of tacklers later in the game and could not retaliate to go after him again (the gouging incident). For those of you who have the game recorded look and see if you see the incident I am refering to in the first couple of plays. This first cheap shot by Spikes was before he lost his helmet the first time, and GA was called for a personal foul.
Gator Rob
November 2nd, 2009
10:28 am
What an overreaction. Spikes didn’t even hurt the guy. And if you don’t think this happens at the bottom of the pile of every game you’re kidding yourself. The UGA players were taking cheap shots the entire game. What is the SEC supposed to do? Review every play in every game from every angle to see if there was anything that looked shady and assess penalties? That’s ridiculous.
This is just an excuse to take a shot at UF since no one can seem to do it on the field.
Atlanta Sports Fan
November 2nd, 2009
10:29 am
Mike Slive and Redding Rogers of the SEC do not have the balls or the interest in SEC football to take action against Florida’s Spikes for what he did at the bottom of that pile after the whistle.
Don’t believe it? Just wait and see if anything comes of it.
Yellow
November 2nd, 2009
10:30 am
Journalism
vassar493
November 2nd, 2009
10:31 am
When the coach of “any” team allows unsportmanlike conduct to continue after the first offense, it is 100% their fault.
Gatorzone
November 2nd, 2009
10:31 am
It was definitely dirty by Spikes. That being said, the whole game was chippy and I thought there was a lot of extracurricular stuff going on after plays especially by Ealey. Does that justify eye gouging? No, but anyone who does not think UGA was hitting late, shoving and jawing was not watching the game. I watched Saturday and again on Sunday morning (rebroadcast) and it was clear that UGA wanted to establish a rough tempo from the start. They tried to out physical UF and it did not work.
Cuz
November 2nd, 2009
10:34 am
Karma is a female dog. And that dog will bite when least expected.
Cuz
November 2nd, 2009
10:37 am
Zone, I would prefer if we all just lined up and played.
AC
November 2nd, 2009
10:40 am
What I saw was criminal assualt and the State of Florida, City of Jacksonville police should be arresting Brandon Spikes for assualt with intent to do bodily harm. Where and when a crime is committed does not prevent it from being a crime. Eye gouging after a play is blown dead is not part of a football game. It is a criminal act on a football field.
AlphG8R
November 2nd, 2009
10:40 am
Funny how Ealey, didn’t react or sit out a play or say anything afterwards?
You would’ve thought by all of these UGA fans’ reactions that his eyeball was hanging out of the socket.
Maybe Spikes was just wiping away Ealey’s tears as he lay on the turf
steveh
November 2nd, 2009
10:41 am
Wasn’t eye-gouging one the trademarks of Abdullah the Butcher?
Abdullah, is that you?
the real Old Gold
November 2nd, 2009
10:43 am
I’m kinda saddened by this. I’ve always held Spikes up as a great player, but I lost a little respect for him.
grrrrtrfan
November 2nd, 2009
10:44 am
AlphG8R…you stole my line…I think I added “warmly”…