- Aug 12, 2014
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Mike was bad, but Bleich shows little to no effort along with being slow and unathletic.
Chris Bleich abandons team
- Thread starter williston_gator
- Start date
- Jun 9, 2014
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Not all Marines, just this one.
You've also obviously never been to a military bar. It's practically the only conversation, SMs mocking each other and calling them pussies.
Ancient Reptile
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- Mar 4, 2015
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A lot of transfers are understandable, and some even make sense. But Bleich, a red shirt freshman who was starting, albeit losing playing time, up and transferring seems odd. Is there more to the story?
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- Jan 6, 2015
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Current roster still shows him, but whatever.
I posted this as I was curious if he was a Butters leftover or not....he's not. Part of Dan's fist class. In fact, it appears we have very few Butters linemen (surprise!) with Rowell (who?) / Delance / Hegie / Buchanan / Forsythe / Moore. That leaves 9 of 15 being Dan's recruits. I've read on here it takes a year or two for an OL to develop and be worth putting on the field (crap upperclassmen may force the issue). But in all, looking at our OL players does not make me confident or comfortable about next year.
- Jun 9, 2014
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Roster means nothing. Lazy interns.
Delance is a transfer. I thought Mullinz and Co landed Delance, but I guess not. He sat out 2017. I don't think he actually played for Butters.
Rowell was a walkon. Respect the hair game, bro. Tanner Rowell - Football - Florida Gators
- Jun 12, 2014
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maheo30 said: ↑
Someone must have missed watching Andrew Mike play for the gators.
When did Mike ever play for the Gators? I don't remember him ever getting into a game.
Someone must have missed watching Andrew Mike play for the gators.
When did Mike ever play for the Gators? I don't remember him ever getting into a game.
- Jun 9, 2014
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oh yeah, he got out there and took up a very small amount of space on occasion.
2017: Appeared in all 11 games as a reserve offensive lineman and a member of Florida’s field goal unit on special teams… 2016: Appeared in twelve games as a reserve offensive lineman and a member of Florida’s field goal unit on special teams… Named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll… 2015: Appeared in four games… Made his collegiate debut against New Mexico State in Florida’s season opener… Named to SEC Academic Honor Roll... 2014: Did not see any game action and redshirted.
- Jun 12, 2014
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Marines have become the mop up team after the Army jumps in and secures everything.
- Jun 12, 2014
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Makes sense - no one knows who is on the FG team
- Sep 8, 2014
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Bleich was denied his waiver to play at Syracuse and there's a lot of butt hurt about it:
Apparently, our AD responded to this....
Chris Bleich’s family says he felt like a piece of meat at Florida, ponders last-ditch NCAA appeal
Chris Bleich’s family says he felt like a piece of meat at Florida, ponders last-ditch NCAA appeal
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Walt Bleich said his son, Chris, first felt a pop in his upper thigh in the week leading up to Florida’s first game of the season last year, a season-opening college football showcase against rival Miami.
The offensive guard and his family figured it was probably a pulled muscle. Walt said that Florida’s athletic trainers treated it with heat and ice, and he started at right guard during a 24-20 win, making the first college appearance of his career.
As the season progressed, Walt said that Chris kept feeling that popping in his groin. He estimated it happened weekly. Chris was able to push through most of the pain. He could run some but his mobility was limited. He struggled to sprint.
Florida’s coaches still seemed to consider him their best option for most of the year. He started eight games. Walt said the school continued to treat his son’s injuries with hot, cold, occasional rest and pain-killing injections.
His performance suffered as the season went on. He was criticized by the fanbase and coaching staff. Chris felt it warranted some understanding. He believed he was willing to do his best in difficult circumstances. Walt said the coaches kept pushing, demanding more than his son’s body would allow.
“They were complaining he wasn’t moving fast enough but he couldn’t move because of the injuries,” Walt said. “We learned a lot. To a lot of people, you’re just a piece of hamburger out there.”
Chris didn’t want his father to call the coaching staff and complain. Eventually, Walt said he contacted an assistant strength coach about the injuries and complained about the fact that his son hadn’t been provided more medical testing. He said the school gave his son an x-ray after the phone call but said an MRI would have to wait. The family wasn’t satisfied with the answer.
One week after losing his starting job, Chris left the team. There were three games remaining in the season. He wanted to transfer. Eventually medical tests showed what he’d been playing through, torn cartilage in both hips and a double sports hernia.
“To me it was malpractice, but I don’t know how he’d describe it,” Walt said. “Abused? Maybe. Definitely not appreciated. But these are my words, not his. When you have to call and ask for an MRI, and they still didn’t do it, that’s hard to take.”
Walt is disabled from injuries sustained rappelling during training when he was in the Army. Traveling to games in Florida was difficult. That explanation, they figured, was good enough for Florida.
So when Florida coach Dan Mullen explained what happened to the public, he noted that Chris left the team due to “family issues.” The University of Florida did not respond to a request for comment on Chris' experience at the school.
On message boards, Florida fans critiqued Chris' history of switching commitments. He briefly attended IMG Academy for prep school before returning home. He verbally committed to both Penn State (he admitted he committed too early) and UCLA (head coach Jim Mora was fired) before eventually picking Florida.
He transferred to Syracuse, choosing to move closer to his home in Hanover Township, Penn., to build on a relationship he’d developed with Syracuse offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh, who had previously recruited him to Nebraska. Walt said an MRI eventually revealed the injuries. Chris underwent offseason surgery in Philadelphia. Trainers from Syracuse drove down for the six-hour procedure and he began training for his return, one the Orange needed badly to try to solidify a shaky offensive line.
Then came bad news from the NCAA. Bleich would be one of college football’s few transfers that wouldn’t be allowed to play immediately. His family has consulted with lawyers and has less than 30 days to consider whether to launch a final appeal with the organization.
“It feels,” his father said, “like a crapshoot.”
In most college sports, athletes are able to transfer freely and play immediately. But athletes in Division I college football, college basketball, baseball and men’s hockey are forced to sit out unless they receive a waiver.
It’s a hypocrisy that advocates for athlete’s rights point out frequently. The schools have placed the most restrictions on the athletes that make them the most money, then tasked NCAA staff members with enforcing those rules.
At the time of Bleich’s transfer, the schools were discussing changing that. There has been growing conversation about allowing athletes the opportunity to transfer and play immediately. It was expected it could happen as soon as this offseason.
But with the coronavirus causing disruption for athletic departments, a group of Division I athletic directors, conference leaders and other officials eventually voted to put off any rule changes until 2021. For Bleich, the waiver requirement remained, and the family applied for one based on his negative experience at Florida.
While the rules created by the schools say waivers are provided in “extenuating and extraordinary” circumstances, they have been approved in recent years with increasing frequency.
Quarterback Justin Fields didn’t win the job at Georgia in 2019 and transferred to Ohio State. He displaced quarterback Tate Martell, who quickly transferred to Miami. Neither was required to sit out.
In a recent story on the recruiting website Rivals, the father of receiver Justin Shorter seemed to acknowledge his son was seeking more playing time when he transferred from Penn State to Florida. His waiver request was accepted. Same with Taulia Tagovailoa, the brother of Alabama quarterback Tua, whose father also acknowledged he left because he wanted a chance to compete for a starting job."
There are plenty of examples. Walt has read nearly all of them.
“It seems like quarterbacks are exempt (from sitting out),” he noted.
During the period of July 1 to Sept. 30 in 2019, Brandy Hataway, the NCAA’s Director of Academic and Membership Affairs, said the organization approved 76 percent of immediate eligibility waivers (156 of 204) across the five sports. During a slightly smaller window this year, the percentage of approved transfers has been 90 percent (241 of 267).
Hataway said that much of that increase can be attributed to the rise in athletes utilizing a “no participation opportunity” or “run-off" waiver, where the previous school’s athletic director signs a form agreeing that an athlete would not be able to compete at their school.
The Bleich family believes they have a much more compelling reason for wanting to switch schools than a place on a depth chart or a desired number of snaps.
NCAA rules dictate that arguments based in misconduct by another school require that school to respond and provide any supporting documentation as part of the process. Walt said his son’s process was delayed some as the family waited for Florida to supply required information. The NCAA’s process provides 10 business days for a school to respond to each piece of new information.
Walt said he hasn’t seen Florida’s submission but suspects the school might have disputed some of the details.
Michael Buckner, a lawyer who has advocated for students and schools, said transfers involving allegations of poor behavior or mishandled situations can be especially tricky because colleges are naturally inclined to disagree with them, sometimes to protect themselves legally.
When versions of events differ, Hataway said, the NCAA staff will try to work with both schools to understand the discrepancies, a process that can be difficult and time-consuming. The organization does not discuss the details of individual cases publicly.
“For us, protecting the student-athletes privacy and circumstances around their need to transfer, it’s a moral and ethical thing,” Hataway said. “Folks can create narratives in situations that might be very different from what we’re receiving. We have to rely on what our institutions provide us. ... Many times, things are not accurately portrayed in the media and the public world compared to the information that we receive. Because we’ve made the decision not to comment about an athlete’s personal situation, that’s something we take on the chin.”
***
That privacy also ramps up cynicism, skepticism and accusations of favoritism toward high-profile programs or high-profile players, some of whom hire independent lawyers. Few ever officially learn why some arguments are successful and other aren’t.
Buckner said that in his experience with the NCAA, decisions aren’t made based on favoritism. Rather, he said, he believes cases are decided by how well schools and lawyers are able to argue their case and fit rationales into the NCAA’s rules and previous precedents.
While that seems sound legally, it seems clear to any outsider that it’s a system that can be manipulated by clever arguments. A stretched truth might be more beneficial than honesty. The Bleich family, for instance, might have been better off if they exaggerated family issues.
The transfer system is one that even college athletic officials have described as “unsustainable.”
It will almost certainly change, despite worry in some corners that it will create a collegiate system of free agency.
When it does, though, it will likely be too late for Bleich, who might find himself among the last generation of players forced to sit out.
His family is still considering whether to utilize their final opportunity to appeal. They’ve spoken with an attorney but have been told they will have to be able to provide evidence that wasn’t available when it first filed for a waiver. Syracuse football fans have created a hashtag #FreeChrisBleich to try to advocate for the Orange lineman and publicize his plight.
Along with his injuries, Chris had coronavirus during the offseason. He spent time in isolation housing. He struggled with shortness of breath and spent a night in the hospital undergoing tests. He just recently started practicing in pads, and Walt questions whether his son would have been physically ready for the Orange’s first two games.
Still, Chris worked hard to get himself back into shape so he could try. When he was home in Pennsylvania between January and June, he borrowed weight-lifting equipment from multiple people, including his old high school coach, so that he could turn his garage into a personal gym.
He worked hard on his upper-body. He did light work on his lower-body, following the advice of Syracuse trainers.
For now, it appears, the reward for that work will wait. And that relatively few will understand why.
“He was pissy all last week," Walt said. “I don’t want to say he was depressed, but he had high hopes. We thought it looked good. We were even making jokes about it. I guess there’s nothing to do but get used to it. It’s life. If you play in their system, I guess you have to play by their rules."
Apparently, our AD responded to this....
Chris Bleich’s family says he felt like a piece of meat at Florida, ponders last-ditch NCAA appeal
Chris Bleich’s family says he felt like a piece of meat at Florida, ponders last-ditch NCAA appeal
Syracuse, N.Y. -- Walt Bleich said his son, Chris, first felt a pop in his upper thigh in the week leading up to Florida’s first game of the season last year, a season-opening college football showcase against rival Miami.
The offensive guard and his family figured it was probably a pulled muscle. Walt said that Florida’s athletic trainers treated it with heat and ice, and he started at right guard during a 24-20 win, making the first college appearance of his career.
As the season progressed, Walt said that Chris kept feeling that popping in his groin. He estimated it happened weekly. Chris was able to push through most of the pain. He could run some but his mobility was limited. He struggled to sprint.
Florida’s coaches still seemed to consider him their best option for most of the year. He started eight games. Walt said the school continued to treat his son’s injuries with hot, cold, occasional rest and pain-killing injections.
His performance suffered as the season went on. He was criticized by the fanbase and coaching staff. Chris felt it warranted some understanding. He believed he was willing to do his best in difficult circumstances. Walt said the coaches kept pushing, demanding more than his son’s body would allow.
“They were complaining he wasn’t moving fast enough but he couldn’t move because of the injuries,” Walt said. “We learned a lot. To a lot of people, you’re just a piece of hamburger out there.”
Chris didn’t want his father to call the coaching staff and complain. Eventually, Walt said he contacted an assistant strength coach about the injuries and complained about the fact that his son hadn’t been provided more medical testing. He said the school gave his son an x-ray after the phone call but said an MRI would have to wait. The family wasn’t satisfied with the answer.
One week after losing his starting job, Chris left the team. There were three games remaining in the season. He wanted to transfer. Eventually medical tests showed what he’d been playing through, torn cartilage in both hips and a double sports hernia.
“To me it was malpractice, but I don’t know how he’d describe it,” Walt said. “Abused? Maybe. Definitely not appreciated. But these are my words, not his. When you have to call and ask for an MRI, and they still didn’t do it, that’s hard to take.”
Walt is disabled from injuries sustained rappelling during training when he was in the Army. Traveling to games in Florida was difficult. That explanation, they figured, was good enough for Florida.
So when Florida coach Dan Mullen explained what happened to the public, he noted that Chris left the team due to “family issues.” The University of Florida did not respond to a request for comment on Chris' experience at the school.
On message boards, Florida fans critiqued Chris' history of switching commitments. He briefly attended IMG Academy for prep school before returning home. He verbally committed to both Penn State (he admitted he committed too early) and UCLA (head coach Jim Mora was fired) before eventually picking Florida.
He transferred to Syracuse, choosing to move closer to his home in Hanover Township, Penn., to build on a relationship he’d developed with Syracuse offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh, who had previously recruited him to Nebraska. Walt said an MRI eventually revealed the injuries. Chris underwent offseason surgery in Philadelphia. Trainers from Syracuse drove down for the six-hour procedure and he began training for his return, one the Orange needed badly to try to solidify a shaky offensive line.
Then came bad news from the NCAA. Bleich would be one of college football’s few transfers that wouldn’t be allowed to play immediately. His family has consulted with lawyers and has less than 30 days to consider whether to launch a final appeal with the organization.
“It feels,” his father said, “like a crapshoot.”
In most college sports, athletes are able to transfer freely and play immediately. But athletes in Division I college football, college basketball, baseball and men’s hockey are forced to sit out unless they receive a waiver.
It’s a hypocrisy that advocates for athlete’s rights point out frequently. The schools have placed the most restrictions on the athletes that make them the most money, then tasked NCAA staff members with enforcing those rules.
At the time of Bleich’s transfer, the schools were discussing changing that. There has been growing conversation about allowing athletes the opportunity to transfer and play immediately. It was expected it could happen as soon as this offseason.
But with the coronavirus causing disruption for athletic departments, a group of Division I athletic directors, conference leaders and other officials eventually voted to put off any rule changes until 2021. For Bleich, the waiver requirement remained, and the family applied for one based on his negative experience at Florida.
While the rules created by the schools say waivers are provided in “extenuating and extraordinary” circumstances, they have been approved in recent years with increasing frequency.
Quarterback Justin Fields didn’t win the job at Georgia in 2019 and transferred to Ohio State. He displaced quarterback Tate Martell, who quickly transferred to Miami. Neither was required to sit out.
In a recent story on the recruiting website Rivals, the father of receiver Justin Shorter seemed to acknowledge his son was seeking more playing time when he transferred from Penn State to Florida. His waiver request was accepted. Same with Taulia Tagovailoa, the brother of Alabama quarterback Tua, whose father also acknowledged he left because he wanted a chance to compete for a starting job."
There are plenty of examples. Walt has read nearly all of them.
“It seems like quarterbacks are exempt (from sitting out),” he noted.
During the period of July 1 to Sept. 30 in 2019, Brandy Hataway, the NCAA’s Director of Academic and Membership Affairs, said the organization approved 76 percent of immediate eligibility waivers (156 of 204) across the five sports. During a slightly smaller window this year, the percentage of approved transfers has been 90 percent (241 of 267).
Hataway said that much of that increase can be attributed to the rise in athletes utilizing a “no participation opportunity” or “run-off" waiver, where the previous school’s athletic director signs a form agreeing that an athlete would not be able to compete at their school.
The Bleich family believes they have a much more compelling reason for wanting to switch schools than a place on a depth chart or a desired number of snaps.
NCAA rules dictate that arguments based in misconduct by another school require that school to respond and provide any supporting documentation as part of the process. Walt said his son’s process was delayed some as the family waited for Florida to supply required information. The NCAA’s process provides 10 business days for a school to respond to each piece of new information.
Walt said he hasn’t seen Florida’s submission but suspects the school might have disputed some of the details.
Michael Buckner, a lawyer who has advocated for students and schools, said transfers involving allegations of poor behavior or mishandled situations can be especially tricky because colleges are naturally inclined to disagree with them, sometimes to protect themselves legally.
When versions of events differ, Hataway said, the NCAA staff will try to work with both schools to understand the discrepancies, a process that can be difficult and time-consuming. The organization does not discuss the details of individual cases publicly.
“For us, protecting the student-athletes privacy and circumstances around their need to transfer, it’s a moral and ethical thing,” Hataway said. “Folks can create narratives in situations that might be very different from what we’re receiving. We have to rely on what our institutions provide us. ... Many times, things are not accurately portrayed in the media and the public world compared to the information that we receive. Because we’ve made the decision not to comment about an athlete’s personal situation, that’s something we take on the chin.”
***
That privacy also ramps up cynicism, skepticism and accusations of favoritism toward high-profile programs or high-profile players, some of whom hire independent lawyers. Few ever officially learn why some arguments are successful and other aren’t.
Buckner said that in his experience with the NCAA, decisions aren’t made based on favoritism. Rather, he said, he believes cases are decided by how well schools and lawyers are able to argue their case and fit rationales into the NCAA’s rules and previous precedents.
While that seems sound legally, it seems clear to any outsider that it’s a system that can be manipulated by clever arguments. A stretched truth might be more beneficial than honesty. The Bleich family, for instance, might have been better off if they exaggerated family issues.
The transfer system is one that even college athletic officials have described as “unsustainable.”
It will almost certainly change, despite worry in some corners that it will create a collegiate system of free agency.
When it does, though, it will likely be too late for Bleich, who might find himself among the last generation of players forced to sit out.
His family is still considering whether to utilize their final opportunity to appeal. They’ve spoken with an attorney but have been told they will have to be able to provide evidence that wasn’t available when it first filed for a waiver. Syracuse football fans have created a hashtag #FreeChrisBleich to try to advocate for the Orange lineman and publicize his plight.
Along with his injuries, Chris had coronavirus during the offseason. He spent time in isolation housing. He struggled with shortness of breath and spent a night in the hospital undergoing tests. He just recently started practicing in pads, and Walt questions whether his son would have been physically ready for the Orange’s first two games.
Still, Chris worked hard to get himself back into shape so he could try. When he was home in Pennsylvania between January and June, he borrowed weight-lifting equipment from multiple people, including his old high school coach, so that he could turn his garage into a personal gym.
He worked hard on his upper-body. He did light work on his lower-body, following the advice of Syracuse trainers.
For now, it appears, the reward for that work will wait. And that relatively few will understand why.
“He was pissy all last week," Walt said. “I don’t want to say he was depressed, but he had high hopes. We thought it looked good. We were even making jokes about it. I guess there’s nothing to do but get used to it. It’s life. If you play in their system, I guess you have to play by their rules."
- Sep 4, 2014
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If my son were an OLineman, and maybe even had hopes of an NFL career, I probably wouldn’t go public with a complaint that he “felt like a piece of meat” and was treated mean at a school. Not saying you couldn’t take issue with his treatment if it in fact was wrong, and it’s not a good look for us per se, but keep it to yourself. Your kid’s trying to be a football player here.
- Jun 9, 2014
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" tests showed what he’d been playing through, torn cartilage in both hips and a double sports hernia..."
Every athlete, weightlifter, runner, hiker, biker, soldier, most physical workers have torn cartilages.
Personally I have known tears and lots of them in every major joint except my left shoulder. the last time they did my knee I think they cleaned up eight tears. I'm probably due for another soon. I guess I, and most people, are just pieces of meat.
Sports hernia can be or may not be serious. He doesnt mention a strangulated bowel, but if he had one I'm sure he would have mentioned it.
Every player on the field in major college football plays with sprained strains tears and probably minor fractures. probably most of the players in basketball and baseball. this is why the ice bath whirlpool and steroid injections are so popular.
he must have thought he joined the badminton team.
Every athlete, weightlifter, runner, hiker, biker, soldier, most physical workers have torn cartilages.
Personally I have known tears and lots of them in every major joint except my left shoulder. the last time they did my knee I think they cleaned up eight tears. I'm probably due for another soon. I guess I, and most people, are just pieces of meat.
Sports hernia can be or may not be serious. He doesnt mention a strangulated bowel, but if he had one I'm sure he would have mentioned it.
Every player on the field in major college football plays with sprained strains tears and probably minor fractures. probably most of the players in basketball and baseball. this is why the ice bath whirlpool and steroid injections are so popular.
he must have thought he joined the badminton team.
Last edited:
- Jun 9, 2014
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