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Marcus Thomas Sounds Off

By FLATigersFan

It's been a while since we've heard anything out of Marcus Thomas...at least since an open apology note was written stating he was sorry for his actions that led to him getting dismissed from the team prior to the Vanderbilt game.

Dave Curtis of the Orlando Sentinel wrote a piece today with a few solid quotes out of MT, in a way bashing the way that head coach Urban Meyer runs his football program in Gainesville:

Six weeks after parting ways with the Florida football program, former Gators defensive tackle Marcus Thomas said Coach Urban Meyer created an atmosphere at Florida that he couldn't handle.

He said the rules were too strict, and he said his suspensions, dismissal and what he perceives as Meyer's bashing will hurt his probable future in the NFL.


Wait.  Is he serious?  The rules were too strict?
"He's a good person in general who wants nothing but the best for all his players," he said.

Ahh, that's nice.  But wait...
"But he's the kind of guy who says, 'If you do that, you're a bad person,' " Thomas said. "He says, 'This is the way to go. This is how it is. And if you're not doing that, you're a bad guy.' "

Ok.  What coach doesn't do that when you break team rules, and in MT's case, University rules and not to mention, the law?  More than once, I might add.

Thomas then followed with this, which may be a bit troubling:

"He'd say, 'I'm going to destroy you to the [pro] scouts,' " Thomas told the table.

"How often would he give you that?" Thomas' agent, Rich Burnoski, asked.

"All the time," Thomas said. "On a regular basis."


Now, I will admit that trying to destroy a guy's image in regards to future money in the NFL may be a bit over the top.  But consider the source on this one.  Marcus Thomas is coming off as a guy that may not be that credible for one, and secondly you never know what reporters these days are doing in terms of taking guys out of context.  I don't know what to believe in this one because of these factors, even though it's never good when things like these are said...possible recruits read this and may be swayed just a little into choosing another school to play at.

With that being said, I hope Thomas can get his life back on track and make it to the NFL.  He is a great football talent.  Unfortunately a few things clouded his judgement along the way at UF and we're stuck in this sticky situation with a former player speaking out against a program he claims he still loves.