Notice how Mel Kiper clammed up after Jon Gruden and the others stuck up for Timmy and the Gators. (BTW, it's nice to know that ol' "Chucky" is a Florida fan and thinks highly of Urban Meyer!)
So much for those moron media hacks stating that Coach Meyer foesn't prepare his players for the next level; as of right now we have eight - count them - EIGHT Florida players off the boards (Aaron Hernandez was drafted by the Patriots this morning in Round 4). Apparently Urban's doing something right!
As the cliche goes, he who laughs last laughs best.
To be honest, I don't think we need to use the number of former Gators drafted by the NFL as a benchmark of success for the program. As we have stated elsewhere, it is not Urban's job to prepare these kids for the NFL. NFL football and NCAA football are two very different games.
In the long term, Coach Meyer has always prepared his players for life, not just the NFL. In the short term, he prepares them for college football games. He's always been doing something right. I don't want to get into that Michigan/Notre Dame/USC game where we call ourselves better than everyone else just because we train for the NFL in college. To be honest, that is one thing that turns me off to Miami and Florida State football--they act like pro teams, starting with prima donna attitudes.
I do like shutting up critics, but I am not bothered by them and neither is the Florida football program. McShay and Kiper can say all they want, but they are not important enough in this universe to affect the NFL draft or Gator football. They bloviate all they want, just as we do here on these forums, except they get paid a bit more to do so. The only critic with any clout out there is Jerry Jones. The rest of those critics are NFL losers, NFL wannabes, or loudmouths. Eric Allen said nothing nice about Tebow, but he never won a SuperBowl despite some personal achievements. Qadry Ismail won a SuperBowl, but in a supporting role. Now look at the supporters or fair critics: Steve Young (one of the best QBs of all time), Jon Gruden (SB-winning coach), Tom Jackson (played decent part in two SBs), Chris Berman (always a fair analyst).
Right now, I'm laughing at McShay, Kiper, Allen, and Ismail, but mainly at McShay and Kiper, the losers who will continue to get paid for spouting off mindless drivel. I did not even listen to those guys before the draft. If you want good NFL analysis, just stick with Chris Berman and his crew. They are better at pointing out a player's faults without being dicks about it.
