re: How come emmitt Smith gets no love Around here

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UF and the Bull Gators knew what they were getting with Cheatin Charley and perfectly content to fling the Dollars any way Charley directed. FSU and Miami had blown past UF. They spent their way past FSU and dropped Miami.

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Well yes and no. Charley built the program and got the alumni interested after he got there. Yes there was rampant cheating, and like everyone else who gets caught, we all cried that everyone else is doing it too. To no avail. FSU and Miami (who were also cheating) then continued to have stellar seasons while UF struggled for the next 4 years from 1986-1989 and then Spurrier arrived in 1990.

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Sanders retired when he did explicitly because he did not want to break Walter Payton's record.

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IIRC Sanders retired because he had issues with the Lions management

1) UF was just coming off horrible penalties by the NCAA, no TV for two years and docked schollys...Charley Pell was long gone by 1987 when UF recruited Smith and it was a close battle with AU for his services...but Smith's parents were both educators in Pensacola and wanted academics first..and that meant the tractor and backhoe bunch lost out. To prove that point, Smith returned to UF to get his degree when he had made millions and still played in the NFL. He had made a promise to his parents that he would get a degree.

2) Smith only played 2 and a half years at UF because of a broken leg he suffered against Memphis as a true soph. He wanted to play in an offense where he could be the featured RB and Dallas HC was ex UM coach Jimmy Johnson who had witness the skills of Smith as a true frosh...even though we were beaten by UM pretty bad. And Smith held no animosity toward Spurrier...the OBC was the kind of coach that wouldnt want players if they werent committed 199% and allowed a QB later on to transfer to UM because he had a gunslinger ahead of him.

3) Smith was the only offense UF had from the time he stepped on campus...even though we had an AA RB from the NE who was a soph...that soph transferred right after a few spring practices when he could see that he would lose his starting job. We had horrible QB skills and none could hit the broadside of a barn from 10 paces. Our only saving grace was we had a stout defense. We lost a few games with low scores. Spurrier was a breath of fresh air when he arrived in 1990.

Mainly because Mom took a UF booster supported job, and didn’t allow her son to go to the school he preferred.

I love Emmitt

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FSU and Miami had blown past UF. They spent their way past FSU and dropped Miami.

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It is well documented that both Miami and FSU cheated far worse than UF or SMU, but they got away with it. Sports Illustrated has exposed both programs along with Yahoo and others. Neither would have risen to the top without the cheating. UF was late to the game and didn't know how to do it as well. Charlie came from Bama via Clemson where he was unquestioned and he got arrogant and wasn't careful. Meanwhile, Miami and FSU were careful. But, eventually, found out. But, by then, the NCAA's power had weakened so nothing was ever done about it. Both UF and SMU were victims of the wrong time when the NCAA was ruthlessly slashing with their swords. These days, they would both have put themselves on probation and missed a bowl game and reduced scholarships by a few, and the NCAA would say, bless you.