It would be very easy – and completely understandable – for Emory Jones and Anthony Richardson to not like each other and view each other as a threat.
After all, Jones is in his fourth year with the Gators and was one of Dan Mullen’s first high-profile commits as Florida’s head coach. He patiently waited behind Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask for three years as he was groomed as UF’s quarterback of the future. And then, just as Jones’ time finally arrived, here comes this teenager with an immense skillset who’s fighting to take his job away from him.
Despite Jones having a two-year head start on Richardson, Richardson has pushed Jones this season and become a fan favorite for his ability to make something special happen at any time, either with his right arm or his legs.
When Jones struggled and Richardson dazzled during the first two games, a sizable portion of the fan base called for Richardson to take over the starting role. Then, Mullen benched Jones in favor of Richardson against LSU and gave Richardson his first start against Georgia. A concussion and a knee injury have allowed Jones to reclaim the starting job entering the final two weeks of the season.
However, despite all of that drama and back and forth, Jones and Richardson don’t hold any animosity toward each other. Jones hasn’t gotten sick of hearing all of the Richardson hype, and Richardson hasn’t gotten annoyed by Jones standing in his way of the starting job.
In fact, the opposite is true – they’re each other’s biggest cheerleader.
During Richardson’s ferocious second-half comeback attempt against LSU, Jones could be found on the sideline cheering and clapping for Richardson after his big plays.
Richardson returned the favor against Samford last week. Somehow, Richardson found out that Jones was only 18 yards away from tying Tim Tebow’s school record for passing yards in a game. Mullen wanted Richardson to go into the game for their final series with the Gators comfortably ahead by 18 points.
Richardson unsuccessfully tried to talk Mullen into leaving Jones in the game so that he could break the record.
“I think it shows the respect that those guys have for each other and, as I said, of what being on a team can be like,” Mullen said. “I think if you talk to so many people in the game of football, that played football and grew up in football and played over a long time, one of the toughest things they probably ever think, when you talk to guys that leave football, is they don’t have that. They lose that part of team in their life, which is something so special. And it shows what great teammates those guys are and how tight the guys are together.”
5. That’s the tweet.
— Anthony Richardson † (@GVOaant) November 13, 2021
Jones said that he and Richardson’s relationship serves as a great example for the younger players on the team. You can compete with each other on the field while still supporting each other and being friends.
“It just shows how much the people in this program care about each other,” Jones said. “I think it sets a great example. We all try to blend in with each other as much as we can, and I think it just shows between me and Anthony.”