Chris Rainey will probably see the field Saturday. That’s not a guarantee. Don’t take it to the bank. Like anything related to the UF football team, fans won’t actually know until the game starts.
Maybe that sucks. Maybe you hate it. But it’s the way things are handled.
Having said that, Chris Rainey will see the field Saturday. He’ll play because the Florida offense, among other things, needs big plays, needs quote-unquote explosssssssive playmakers.
But try to keep it in your pants. Just because he’s back doesn’t mean the classic crush-your-soul, hang-half-a-hundred, pillage-your-campus, steal-your-women offense that makes the Boys of Old Florida so proud has returned.
In the game and a half Rainey played before suffering a concussion and informing a love interest that it was, in fact, time to die (or maybe “dine”... stupid T9 texting), the junior accounted for 50 yards from scrimmage, or about 34 per game.
And the Florida offense as a whole wasn’t taking any prisoners with Rainey in the slot. The team gained 369 total yards (246 per game) and scored 41 points (27.3 per game) in those 90 minutes of grinding football.
But Rainey was not held out because of football-related issues, and his return should not be evaluated in that light, either. Rainey, and the other 25 players who have been arrested during Urban Meyer’s tenure in the Swamp, didn’t create “The University of Felons” after running wild on the field.
Meyer was branded as a coach who cared more about scoreboards than off-the-field discipline. And, if you believe that, you’ll love this symmetry: In what looks to be his worst season by means of wins and losses, Meyer handled Rainey’s arrest about as well he could have.
Rainey was charged with aggravated stalking. He sent a stupid text message to a female “acquaintance.” She asked that formal charges not be pressed, saying she wasn’t threatened. He was, in the days following the arrest, “not part of this football team,” according to UF coaches. His charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor. He was told he could return, assuming he could follow certain rules, most notably keeping his foot far away from his mouth.
In the end, Rainey serves about a five-game suspension.
The punishment is appropriate. The offense was not major. The victim testified that she never actually felt threatened and that the police were called merely to defuse the situation.
That’s not to say he shouldn’t have been punished. Again, he told a woman that it was time to die. Even if Rainey’s intentions weren’t serious, they were at least stupid and required the police’s concern.
And, other than on-field success, fans know Rainey best for saying really dumb things. He said he disliked his sex class two years ago because it wasn’t “like you see on TV.” And before this season he said the team had rid itself of all the prima donnas who poisoned last year’s squad.
Sure, he’s in college, where you’re supposed to have fun and make minor mistakes and grow outrageous beards and, occasionally, say stupid things to girls (or boys, or both). But, at 22 years old, Rainey should have outgrown this phase. The immature comments were fun and even endearing, but he was justifiably punished because of it.
At the same time, the charges were reduced upon further review. The reaction to Rainey’s late-night creeping was more severe because it happened to be No. 31 on the “Gators in more-orange, less-blue jumpsuits” chart since 2005.
But that’s unfair. Would Rainey have faced less scrutiny if his text message resulted in charge No. 3? What if it was charge No. 103?
Fans will probably (read: definitely) watch yet another player with a criminal record on the field Saturday. And while the Gators covet him for his speed, his return was not rushed.
