Here’s my take on Emmitt.
When I was a kid, JL Williams was my first favorite player and I idolized the #22 jersey. So, at the Fan Day of ‘87, as an outspoken 6 year old who didn’t quite get the whole “players graduate/jerseys change” thing, I marched straight to him and asked him why he thought he could wear JLW’s number. He was great, spent a few minutes laughing with us and signed my fan. By the end of that day, I’d forgotten about everything and had a new favorite player.
For those of us in that generation, he WAS UF football. He was everything. When I watched him cry after the Aub game in ‘89, I cried. When he got hurt, it was like our whole world ended. He was that special. The bizarre part is that unlike many others who were the direct connection to the next generation, to me he was just an unexpected bright spot that kind of came out of nowhere, was awesomely special, and ultimately had no direct link to what followed. In that respect, he’s actually on one of the strangest stories in Gator history.
Of course, then he became a cowboy, embraced Irvin and the canes, forgot to mention UF in his HOF speech and has now been seen in a uga hat.
In short, he’s become the Tessio of Gator Nation. Not a bad guy, and did tons of good. But also has a tendency to get swept up in things and ultimately make the seemingly popular, yet wrong, decision.
