10 Things We Learned From Steve Spurrier At SEC Media Day
By Rixon Lane
The most enjoyable part of SEC Media Days has come to an end.
Steve Spurrier took the podium this morning to wax poetic on Gamecock football, Florida football history, the Alamo, the USFL, contract negotiations, Stephen Garcia, Alabama recruiting, championship game weather and just about anything else he wanted to talk about. Here are 10 takeaways from Spurrier’s session in Hoover.
1. Steve is not thrilled about playing at Auburn this season.
“We’re not looking forward to that game. But we have to go in there and give it our best shot.
2. A prominent Gamecock booster took Steve to the Bahamas this year.
“Took me on his jet airplane and his yacht, so it was a pretty good trip.”
3. Steve is rather fond of winning bowl games.
“I’ve learned that when you win that bowl game, life is a lot more comfortable in the offseason.”
4. Steve is glad the SEC Championship isn’t played in the snow.
“The games usually played in the south, we don’t have those championship games in the snow. Lot of Big Ten teams, northern teams play in some bad weather.
5. Steve doesn’t bother trying to convince players to stay in school.
“Whenever one of them tells me they want to go pro, I usually shake their hand and say ‘good luck, I’m all for you.’ Once they say they’re ready to go pro, that means ‘I’m tired of school and I’m ready to go get paid to play football.'”
6. Steve does not live in Texas.
“I’m not from Texas.”
7. The fact that Texas and Texas A&M don’t play each other anymore upsets Steve.
“They sorta get mad at each other and say ‘we’re not playing you anymore,’ ‘well, we’re not playing you anymore.’ I think that’s sad.”
8. Steve remembers the record of his best Tampa Bay Bandits team in the USFL and the record of the team that beat him that year.
“The second year, we were 14-4 and the Birmingham Stallions were 15-3 and they beat us in the playoff that year.”
9. Steve thinks Stephen Garcia is a Duck Dynasty-looking dude with a bright future in “arena ball.”
“He looked like he joined Duck Dynasty instead of the media. But they assured me he’s with the media. But Stephen’s a great guy, we had absolutely no problems with Stephen when he was with the team, on the field. When he was away from the team, off the field was when he had some problems, unfortunately. Maybe he’s gonna keep playing arena ball. I thought he’d be good in arena ball.”
10. Steve would like to correct us about everything we’ve ever known about the Alamo.
“I’m from Tennessee. I was alway taught that the hero of the Alamo was Davy Crockett. He and those 33 Tennessee guys who came in and got killed and so forth.