Over the last five years or so, “opting out” has become one of the biggest buzz phrases in college football.
The trend began when Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey and several other high-profile players skipped their teams’ bowl games to avoid injury and maintain their draft positions.
That quickly became a slippery slope. Eventually, players who weren’t even regarded as high draft picks began opting out of bowl games. That then turned into players opting out of multiple games as their teams slipped out of championship contention throughout the season.
Last year, LSU’s Ja’Marr Chase opted out of the entire season, primarily for draft purposes.
Whenever a team loses multiple games before the end of October like the 2021 Gators have, it’s almost assumed that there will be players who decide to call it quits and embark on their NFL careers.
Like it or not, that’s the culture that exists in college football, and it doesn’t figure to go anywhere any time soon. The Gators had a handful of players opt out of the Cotton Bowl last year, including Trevon Grimes, who went undrafted.
So, given that background, logically, UF cornerback Kaiir Elam was asked on Tuesday about whether he’s considered opting out of the remainder of this season. He’s a projected first-round pick, the Gators are out of contention, and he suffered a sprained knee that kept him out of three games.
Some players in his position would’ve opted out of the season, taken their rehab slowly and started training for the NFL Combine.
Elam, though, hasn’t considered taking that course of action, and it doesn’t sound like he’s going to any time soon.
“I’m a Gator,” Elam said. “I bleed orange and blue. Any time I’m on that field or I’m in practice, I’m going to go my hardest to help us win a game. Honestly, I’m not thinking about the future. I’m thinking about every single practice leading up to Georgia right now, and I’m focused on just winning this game, winning the next one and winning the next one after that.
“Obviously, people are trying to, like, sway me to think about that, but I feel like if I lose focus right now, that’ll hurt myself … and my team.”
Coach Dan Mullen said that Elam’s dedication to improving and helping this team win shows you what type of person he is.
“You’ve got to love the game of football,” Mullen said. “You’ve got to love being on the team, and a guy like Kaiir does that, and he wants to get better as a football player, and I think it’d be scary for anybody to sit there and say, ‘Hey, I’m not going to play anymore. I don’t want to work or get better.’
“It just shows his work ethic, his grind, how he focuses on his improvement every single day. I think, whatever he does in the future, that’s going to bode well for him because it shows his character and his work ethic of the type of person that he is.”
Elam’s character allows him to serve as a powerful leader to one of the youngest position groups on the team.
“He’s been able to come step in and help those guys improve and grow, and I’ve seen a lot of improvement out of the corners throughout the whole year,” Mullen said.
When he’s been on the field this fall, Elam has lived up to the high expectations. He’s tied for second on the team with three passes broken up despite only playing in four games and opposing teams opting to largely attack elsewhere. He’s made one of the Gators’ four interceptions, and he helped put the clamps on Alabama’s high-powered passing game over the final three quarters.
Elam said that this season has been tough on him physically and mentally, but he’s glad to be back out there with his team.
“Physically, I feel a lot better,” he said. “I’ve been staying in the training room 24-7 when I’m not in class or on the field. So, I’ve just been happy to be back practicing.
“It’s been a battle for me mentally because I never missed a game in middle school or high school. So, just not being out there to compete and help my team has been difficult. LSU, when I came back and we lost, I felt like I’ve got to do a better job being more prepared when I’m out there.”
Elam will get the chance to redeem himself and then some on Saturday when Florida takes on No. 1 Georgia. For the Gators to exit TIAA Bank Field with a win, the defense is going to have to play its best game since at least 2019 and maybe even prior to then.
As the Gators’ best NFL prospect and as one of their veteran leaders, Elam will likely factor heavily into any scenario in which the Gators win this game. He’s looking forward to the challenge.
“It would mean a lot, honestly,” Elam said. “This is a huge game, one that I have to be super focused and locked-in for, give it my all. I’m just going out there to help my team win, honestly. I think this is a huge game for our defense and our whole team in general.”
The NFL is calling, but they’ll have to wait. Elam isn’t done being a Florida Gator just yet.