Even after all these years, the competitive fires are still there. Carlos Alvarez was just sick and tired of the historical revisionists who kept trying to put such an evil spin on the famed “Florida Flop” of 1971.
When Alvarez finally had enough, he cranked up his computer and fired off a missive into the cyberworld just to set the record straight. It was the first time that the famed Cuban Comet had ever posted on a message board. Touchdown!
Just like The Pass from John Reaves he had caught on opening day of the 1969 SuperSoph season against Houston, Carlos was breaking ground with his remarks.
Carlos was just hoping to set the record straight about “The Flop.” He went on to say that the decision by Doug Dickey to allow Miami to score and get the ball back for Reaves to set the NCAA career passing mark was well justified. Instead, he found a new purpose.
“… Miami was way behind and (Miami coach Fran) Curci was running the ball so John Reaves would not break the record,” Alvarez wrote.
He was overwhelmed at the response. “I had no idea …,” he said.
Fellow posters began asking questions and Carlos discovered this was something he could do to help link up the Gator Nation.
When I spoke to him several days later, Carlos said:
“The way some of them (the Miami fans) tried to spin ‘The Flop’ always bothered me.”
I can verify what Carlos said because I was in the Orange Bowl, on the field that night, on the sideline when Harvin Clark was discussing that play with Dickey. It seemed the only fair resolution to an attempt by Curci to freeze the ball and keep it away from Reeves.
The real irony is that Alvarez and Dickey had butted heads a few times over the years, but this was one of those rare occasions when the Florida coach was putting the coaching manual aside in favor of his players. And Dickey wound up getting ripped.
Alvarez felt the wrong coach got hung out to dry.
“From a sportsmanship standpoint, what can be worse than not trying to win the game so that the opposing team does not break a record?” Alvarez asked rhetorically. “Miami did play on the ‘dark’ side that night and there were a couple of major pass interference penalties on their defensive backs against me. The rivalry was intense …”
He just had to put those Hurricane fans in their place. Thus a new blogger/poster was born out of a sense of duty, thanks to a call to arms by Urban Meyer.
“Coach Meyer told us all we should contribute and I found out maybe this is a way I can help,” Carlos said of his Internet foray. “I love Coach Meyer and I love Steve Spurrier for what he did, too. But I greatly appreciate Urban’s sense of history about the game. And how he reaches out to us to bring us in – he’s the only coach who has ever done that.”
Alvarez told me he had no idea that his words would have drawn such a response and that he was pleased to hear from so many people from his youth in Miami as well as his SuperSoph teammates.
“I heard from Fred Abbott (linebacker),” he said, amused at the email he had received from his old teammate. “He was giving me grief because I didn’t mention him.”
It brought Carlos a sense of connection with his football community. In fact he was so pleased that he’s decided to keep up his posts and will be joining the Gator Country forums soon under the nickname “elgato,” for one his college nicknames “El Gato” (The Cat). Indeed, he was quick.
Ironically, Alvarez is one of the few former Gator greats who could be compared favorably to Percy Harvin, the multi-talented running back/wide receiver of the Gators who will be a certain first-round choice in the April NFL Draft.
“I might be ‘Percy-like,’” Alvarez said, downplaying the comparison, “but I could never play like Percy.”
As a longtime admirer of Harvin, Carlos spoke in his post about Percy’s greatness.
“… Percy Harvin is the best non-quarterback offensive player in Florida history,” he wrote. “I have seen them all since the late 1960s, and outside of Wes Chandler, no one has come close to the different talents and mental toughness that Percy brought to every game. I always felt I was watching a Michael Jordan, a once-in-a-lifetime athlete on Florida Field …”
As a former running back at North Miami High, Alvarez came to Florida and immediately became a swift, sure-handed receiver who could split defenders on double coverage and beat the opposition deep.
Carlos still holds pass receiving records at Florida and if he hadn’t suffered a serious knee injury after his consensus All-American sophomore season – plus having to downshift to Dickey’s run-oriented offense – they never would have surpassed his numbers. This was after having to learn a brand new position in the Ray Graves/Fred Pancoast offense.
“I caught a total of one pass in high school,” he said.
Few former players have expressed such respect and admiration for Meyer. Carlos can only dream of what it would have been like to have played in Meyer’s Spread offense. And to play for a coach who knows how to communicate so well with his players.
“… It is obvious that he has the emotional connection, respect and loyalty of his players … Guys like him are a rare find.”
The same might be said for Carlos Alvarez as well.
Quick Jump Starts
1. Nick Calathes’ triple double, which made him the only Gator in history with two, was this rare: The most ever in one season by a single player has been four.
2. I’m hearing that Lane Kiffin is raising NCAA eyebrows and that several schools have already reported Tennessee for recruiting violations.
3. Wonder what it would be like if Meyer ever signed a true tailback that could run over linebackers like Tim Tebow does.
4. Here’s a never-ending discussion: A friend of mine is picking the three all-time greatest Gators for a National Football Foundation project – so I’ll let you tell me what three to pick.
5. I dunno – that loss to South Carolina is beginning to look more and more like Billy Donovan’s “Ole Miss” game.
There’s room on the roster
Florida coaches are a little worried about the perception that there’s no room on the roster for new recruits because they say it’s not true.
“Look at the special teams,” one coach said. “We play 15 or 16 guys on defense because so many of them also play special teams – Joe Haden, Will Hill, Carlos Dunlap, etc.”
The coaches like to point out that playing special teams is considered being a “starter” and that many of the best players on both sides of the ball also play on kickoff and kickoff-return teams, punt and punt-return teams as well as extra-point and field-goal teams.
When Brandon James returned the punt for a touchdown against Tennessee last year, you know who threw the block to spring him? Percy Harvin. And what about Jeff Demps blocking a kick against Kentucky?
And it’s not like any of the players who also start on offense or defense are ready to give up those jobs.
“It’s like, ‘You gotta beat me out. I’m not giving up my spot on special teams,’” the coach said.
And here’s a friendly reminder to those players who have yet to crack the starting lineup on offense or defense: Urban Meyer puts a huge emphasis on players proving themselves on special teams.
That’s some advice that, if taken, might alter the roles of players like Emmanuel Moody, Paul Wilson and Steven Wilks – all of whom are not without talent.
AND GOOD MORNING …
… Greg Mattison. Congratulations on your promotion as defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens.