Jesse Palmer

Last night I was delighted to be able to watch the first of the collegiate season's football games.  I was especially delighted because one of the teams playing was the South Carolina Gamecocks.  The Gamecocks are coached by Steve Spurrier.  I like Steve.   -  First, a little bit of background:  my family moved to Gainesville in July of 1961, and my Dad, retired from the US Navy, started classes at UF to become a primary school teacher on the GI Bill.  That September, when Dad became a Gator, I was starting Kindergarten.  In school, I was a Lake Forest Scout, a Westwood Whirlwind, and an Eastside Ram - but I was always a Gator, too.  Dad took us to UF football games, to Gator Growl, to the UF Homecoming Parade, UF baseball games and UF wrestling meets...  I grew up respecting Bobby Bowden and the Seminoles, but I was always a Gator.  -  Steve Spurrier is a polarizing individual - you either love him, or you love to hate him.  He, himself, loves enemies.  I happen to like his style and his character.
  I was watching the ESPN pre-game coverage, and as I looked at Jesse Palmer, the middle commentator, I was not happy.  This young man (aged 33) is fairly handsome, he is pretty well-spoken (though not eloquent, and he certainly needs a lot more experience to equal Chris Collingsworth), and he was a quarterback at UF.  He was a Gator; he played for Steve Spurrier. He played in the NFL, he played in the CFL.  Ah, what counted against him in my memory was that he was the center of attention on The Bachelor, one of those God-awful so-called "reality" shows, which is anything but reality-based....  And I thought I remembered a few disparaging remarks about Spurrier, coming from the lips of Palmer, once he had graduated.  My memories of the remarks, however, had made me think at the time "sour grapes."
   In any event, there was the inevitable hype about could the Vanderbilt Commodores defeat a Top Ten-rated team at home in the season opener.  Vandy had installed a new artificial turf surface - one of those that have loose rubber pellets in the grass; they had a new, huge Trinitron viewing system in the stadium; and their second year head coach was really playing them up as the team to beat.
   The game was not a very prettily-played game.  There were goofs, there were blatant errors and misjudgements, and there were injuries.  But I got upset with Jesse Palmer, who seemed to be on a tear to make Steve Spurrier into a caricature of himself.  Yes, a lot of folks refer to Steve as "the Ol' Ball Coach," and, yes, as a coach, Spurrier wants his team to win.  What Head Coach would not want his team to win?  Jesse Palmer started a refrain that ran from the second quarter to the end of the game about how the ol' ball coach would do anything - anything - to win.  He got under my skin.  I still think it's a case of sour grapes:

Spurrier finished his three-year, thirty-one-game career as Florida's starting quarterback having completed 392 of 692 attempts, with 4,848 passing yards, thirty-seven TDs and 442 yards rushing.

   Palmer often alternated playing time with quarterback Doug Johnson, and later, with quarterback Rex Grossman. Memorably, he connected with Bo Carroll on a 75-yard touchdown pass play, and rushed for four touchdowns against the Kentucky Wildcats in 2000. He finished his four-year college career with 3,755 passing yards.
   Palmer still can't touch Spurrier!