Two Florida freshman football players were charged with underage possession of alcohol earlier this summer.
Strong safety Matt Elam pleaded no contest to the first-degree misdemeanor charge July 21 and was ordered to pay $184 in court costs and fees. His payment is due Oct. 27. The case will remain open until the fine is paid, according to court records.
Wide receiver Solomon Patton, charged with a second-degree misdemeanor, accepted a deferred prosecution agreement Aug. 19. If he meets the terms of the agreement, which includes performing community service, Patton’s record will be clean. He is a first-time offender.
UF coach Urban Meyer said Thursday that there’s a chance Elam, an early enrollee, will start the Sept. 4 opener against Miami of Ohio if the Gators open in a nickel (five defensive backs) defense.
Patton, who also enrolled in January, is considered a candidate to possibly redshirt this season.
Looks like they will fit into Urban Meyer’s program very nicely. Break the law but you can still play at UF. We have great leadership.
Nice comments Bill. Can you expand on what you are stating there and give examples of it? Or do you prefer to just make some blind comment that you have no idea about. It is not the football team or Urban Meyer’s job to list everything that happens due to something like this. Do you know that there hasn’t been any punishment already? Also, the punishment should fit the crime. The last kid that got into actual trouble (DUI) was kicked off the team. The kid is having to pay his own way to school and earn his way back onto the team. So please, keep on making baseless claims with nothing to actually back it up. You have obvliously shown great leadership in posting.
Excellent Matt! You are 100% correct! Bill is just an FSU looser!
You notice at UF these things aren’t covered up by the law, like a lot of incidents at other schools.
Bill, Marcus Thomas was an NFL prospect starting at DT for UF in the 2006 championship run. He was kicked off the team before the LSU game, when LSU was higher ranked. Meyer kicks them off when they deserve it.
None of us ever consumed alcohol while attending UF, did we?
Regardless of whether you think these guys should’ve been suspended, it’s interesting to compare their “punishments” to other schools’ players who’ve committed similar crimes. For example, the UGA athletic dept requires a minimum one-game suspension for any alcohol-related offense.
Also interesting is the difference in media coverage/criticism. I think the headline here tells it all.
Wow, more Gayturd arrest. Nothing unusual for the U Felonly. Thankfully the wheels are falling off the program so that no one gets hit by the drunk drivers on this team.
Seriously, you’re complaining about underage possession of alcohol for college kids? Get real. This happens to about half of all UF students, and much more break the law and don’t get caught. How about we do some real reporting Robbie? You know, the season starts in a week.
If every freshman men and woman that had possession of a beer before 21 years of age at all colleges across the nation were arrested there would be a 90% reduction in the total college freshman class. These kids are away from home and will try new experiences and learn from them. These 2 players were guilty of being stupid drinking in a public place, but were not driving or creating a disturbance. i’m sure that Coach Meyer had some extra words along with some type of punishment. The worse part is the bad publicity UF and the team will get from other schools in recruiting.
1. Bill’s comments are inappropriate!. We have no idea how Coach Meyer and staff handled these issues in house. They occurred weeks ago.
2. At UF the punishment generally fits the crime even if it hurts the team. UF could have used Carlos Dunlap vs Alabama in the SEC Championship game. Marcus Thomas would have been in a huge plus on defense vs. LSU.
3. Both of these issues were violations that require a summons not an arrest and booking. Will we soon start looking at the county and city public records of our opponents for parking violations and publishing it on the internet?
4. Gainesville is schizophrenic on drinking. They want the business revenue and tax revenue from bars and pubs but heaven help us if someone steps outside with an open container
What the hey! Dunlap got suspended for a game and it cost us the national championship, so I wouldn’t say that Meyer always lets our players off.
Also, Janikowski should have been suspended for a national championship game one year and wasn’t because Bowden said he needed him to win, so why would anyone have a problem with what Meyer does?
These kids are just out of high school. Yes they were wrong but so are people who speed 5 miles an hour overe the speed limit. Guess those detractors NEVER had a speeding ticket. Felony assault would cause me serious concerns, not underage drinking. After all an 18 year old can die in a firefight in Iraq yet isn’t old enough to drink alcohol? Talk about scizophrenia!!
And to the Florida State and Miami fans, your kids were never to coached to take late hits on quarterbacks (FSU) or strut and take cheap shots (UM)? Don’t find a speck in our eye when you have a log in yours! Show some class towards oopponents like Alabama does…
Urban should get tuff with these kids, he should follow Bobby Bowens example and punish them by running up stadium steps. Removing a scholarship and making a key player pay his own way and earn his way back on the team is to dang easy…
TO ALL WHO CARE ABOUT OUR YOUTH!!!! THE YOUTH OF AMERICA ARE ONLY DOING WHAT THEY ARE ALLOWED TO DO. WILL THE PLACE OF BUSINESS WHICH SOLD OR GAVE THE ALCOHOL TO THE TWO BOYS BEING PUNISHED? AND HOW WILL THE BUSINESS BE PUNISHED? SEEMS LIKE THE BOOKSTORE SHOULD SELL MORE THAN BOOKS THEN TUITION CAN GO DOWN.