2008 Florida Gators Won a National Title, and 41 of 121 Players Have Been Arrested

The 2008 Florida Gators were National Champs, and in case you’d forgotten the season, it was the year Tim Tebow officially became a phenomenon. The Gators opened in the Top 10, steamrolled Miami and Tennessee, and then were shocked at home by Ole Miss. Afterward, Tim Tebow made The Speech. The Gators didn’t lose again. They beat No. 1 Alabama in the SEC title game, and Tebow was dominant: He tossed three TD passes, rushed for another 57 yards, and the Gators advanced to the National title game, where they beat Oklahoma, and the announcers gushed over Timmy.

Fast-forward five years, and the New York Times has a postmortem on that team: of the 121 players that were on the roster that season, 41 who “have been arrested, either in college or afterward, and sometimes both.”

What does it all mean? The Times doesn’t make any foolish leaps and attempt to draw conclusions – like pinning it all on Urban Meyer – but obviously, this will come back to him because the media loves to beat him up. (If you’re not friendly with the media, they lay in the cut and wait for you to screw up, and then unload.)

My guess is the next time an Ohio State player is arrested, these Florida figures will be trotted out. [via NYT]