Gators regroup after tragedy

<p>Florida coach Urban Meyer turned to a close friend Monday to help his young football team start working its way through the difficult grieving process.</p><p>In the Gators' first team function since the death of teammate Michael Guilford last Friday in a motorcycle accident, the guest speaker at the team's 7 a.m. meeting Monday was former NFL great Cris Carter, who tragically lost two teammates during his pro career.</p><p>Carter offered his support and some insight into how to cope with the tragedy.</p><p>"It helped us a lot," sophomore linebacker Dustin Doe said. "A lot of people respect Cris Carter, and just to hear him go through the same thing and how he handled it, it gives us ideas so we can handle the situation.</p><p>"I think we're going to handle it OK. (Guilford) was one of our brothers, but things happen every day. Everybody knows Michael Guilford and the type of person he was. It hurts, but the only thing we can do is keep living. We can't go into dark holes and things like that because we know that's not what he would have wanted.</p><p>"We can't alter the way we live or alter the way we play just because of an unfortunate event. If you turn on the news, you see things going on in third world countries and things like that every day. All we can do is go on living. That's the only thing you can do."</p><p>Guilford, a redshirt freshman walk-on and the quarterback on the scout team, practiced with his teammates last Thursday afternoon before the Gators broke for the bye weekend. Several hours later, at about 2:30 a.m. Friday, Guilford and UF student Ashley Slonina were killed when the motorcycle they were riding hit a median at a high rate of speed.</p><p>Players said they started hearing the numbing news a few hours later. Wide receiver Percy Harvin said it was especially devastating to true freshman cornerback Joe Haden, who lost a teammate and the girl he'd been dating for the past few months.</p><p>"I haven't seen him, yet, but some of the players say he was down pretty bad," Harvin said. "They kind of had to drag him out of his house. I haven't seen him personally, but he was pretty beat up over everything."</p><p>The UF players and coaches held a memorial service for Guilford on campus Monday night. Guilford's funeral is today in his hometown of Blountstown.</p><p>Guilford, 19, was a popular player who was given the nickname "Sunshine" by his teammates because of his resemblance to a character in the movie "Remember the Titans."</p><p>"It's a terrible tragedy. Our team is really in shock right now," Harvin said. "It really hasn't hit us yet. We've got to lean on each other to get through this tragedy."</p><p>Sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow said Meyer has been giving the players a great deal of support.</p><p>"Dealing with something like this can be very tough for our team," Tebow said. "Coach Meyer has done a great job of talking to all the guys and providing counseling if we need it. It's hard. Not a lot of guys have gone through anything like this. It is just a difficult time.</p><p>"I think it's comforting to know Sunshine is in a better place now. He was a great kid. I'm just thankful for the 19 years he had here and all the lives he affected, including myself."</p><p>Tebow said the Gators also found comfort from Carter's presence Monday morning.</p><p>"He came in and talked and he did a great job," Tebow said. "He had to deal with several situations like that, with Jerome Brown and Korey Stringer. A lot of guys could relate to that. Everybody was uplifted."</p><p>With half the season still in front of them, starting with a game at No. 8 Kentucky on Saturday, the Gators say they have to move on, no matter how hard that may be.</p><p>"I know a lot of guys cared so much about Sunshine and it hurts a lot of guys," Tebow said. "He would want us to go out there and play football. That was the No. 1 thing he loved to do. We're just going to have to go out there and play for him."</p><p>Said sophomore linebacker Brandon Spikes: "We're handling it. We don't want to forget Sunshine, but we know we've got to keep going, we've got to get the job done. We want to come out and play good for Sunshine."</p><p><i>Robbie Andreu can be reached at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.</i></p>