I hope Leon Orr comes back

[stephenPE]

I read Zac's interview in with him in the paper. The guy said all the right things and sounds like a good man. You cannot read it and think he is a quitter. It has been a bad year in many ways and he has had a roller coaster career here.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

It seems he has never reached his potential as a player. A lot of injuries and such plus I believe he was originally a offensive lineman coming in. I know he must feel that the clock is running out. Funny thing is it seems like we have had a lot of players over the last 4 or 5 years fall into the same category. I guess it should be between him the coaches and team.

 

[BNAG8R]

Actions have consequences.

 

[VulcanAlex]

Leon won't be back, unfortunately it appears that he took a very wrong method to get his desire. Now if he went to his position coach and asked to start due to the issues he had, he might have gotten one series to start. Giving yes/no options makes no sense. It is sad that he has put himself into a corner and now has hurt his opportunities in the NFL as well.

 

[GatorTAG]

“When I play football, it's personal for me,” he said. “I'm in a predicament where if I don't get on that field and perform, I can't provide for my family. I want to be able to pay for my grandmother's hospital bills so she's not $100,000 in debt. I want to take care of my single mother. I want to put my daughter and my sisters and nieces in college.”

So in order to do all of that above he thought it would be better to quit the team instead of share playing time and continue to gain experience and film for the NFL.

STARTER is just a title. There are starters who play less than their backups some times. It all depends on who has the hot hand during the game. He was absent because of an injury for the past 3 games and thought he wouldn't have to work his way back up? Sorry, but he comes off as a selfish, whiny, prima donna if you ask me. I don't want that kind of guy in my locker room.

 

[GatorInKnox]

Quitting a college team because you aren't getting playing time isn't exactly the best path to the NFL.

 

[Concrete Helmet]

STARTER is just a title.

Carlos Dunlap comes to mind. If I recall correctly he rarely started despite being the best player at his position.

 

[MJMGator]

fall for that BS all you want, he's a selfish quitter and he's done at UF.

 

[TheDouglas78]

This is great work by his handlers to change the narrative. His twitter account tells a different story.

 

[divits]

After reading the article I get the sense that Orr made a panicked and bad choice based on his realization that time was running out on his college career and his chance to possibly make it in the NFL. He probably felt a lot of pressure to salvage his career in these last few games and when he was told that he might not get that chance he lost it and made an irrational decision.

If you want to play on Sundays you can't take any Saturday opportunities for granted and you need to play every down as if it's your last. If Leon had come to this realization earlier in his career he would still be on the team and his prospects would be a lot brighter. Tough lesson to learn.

 

[soflagator]

I readily admit that I don't know every detail, and tend to be biased in these cases. But based solely on my opinion that many of WM's decisions have been wrong up to this point, I'm not a big fan of the decision. Players have spoken about it as a "shock", saying that he was a good teammate and improving individual. So I think divits is correct that he panicked a bit, perhaps due to some personal circumstances, and felt that his time to impress scouts was closing and he needed, or even deserved, to start.

My biggest issue here is that it's a mistake. Orr shouldn't have acted that way, and already got some of his punishment by being sent home. But for a 40 something year old who has largely failed at his job, made terrible personnel decisions, botched several recruiting opportunities, yelled at a fan, condescendingly lashed out at reporters following an epic loss, and told an entire fan base comprised of the very people who write his pay check to "get a grip", and yet still feels he deserves another chance, I find it discouraging that he is so definitive in his not allowing a 21 year old to come back from a mistake of his own.

 

[deuce]

I readily admit that I don't know every detail, and tend to be biased in these cases. But based solely on my opinion that many of WM's decisions have been wrong up to this point, I'm not a big fan of the decision. Players have spoken about it as a "shock", saying that he was a good teammate and improving individual. So I think divits is correct that he panicked a bit, perhaps due to some personal circumstances, and felt that his time to impress scouts was closing and he needed, or even deserved, to start.

My biggest issue here is that it's a mistake. Orr shouldn't have acted that way, and already got some of his punishment by being sent home. But for a 40 something year old who has largely failed at his job, made terrible personnel decisions, botched several recruiting opportunities, yelled at a fan, condescendingly lashed out at reporters following an epic loss, and told an entire fan base comprised of the very people who write his pay check to "get a grip", and yet still feels he deserves another chance, I find it discouraging that he is so definitive in his not allowing a 21 year old to come back from a mistake of his own.

He wasn't sent home. he chose to leave. This is all on Orr and nothing you can rationalize will change that.

 

[Loogis]

The problem is Muschamp laid out a very harsh consequence that he had to back up. Maybe a wiser and more prudent course would have been to bench him for the entire game and readdress this at a later time.

 

[soflagator]

He wasn't sent home. he chose to leave. This is all on Orr and nothing you can rationalize will change that.

Wrong wording. And I agree that he made a terrible decision, and said as much in my post. There's no rationalization. I'm an advocate of holding people accountable for clear and obvious mistakes, especially when they affect my team. If we're good with that mindset, I'm all in. But you can't have it both ways.

 

[biggator6]

This is great work by his handlers to change the narrative. His twitter account tells a different story.

Link?

 

[GatorStud]

Liberals... it isn't fair, he didn't mean it, give him another chance, his mommy, his grandma... jesus christ we all have had hard knocks and family struggles. Life is enduring and over coming. The guy decided on his own to leave the team, WM didn't boot him over his desire to start. Orr left because he wasn't starting. Here's one for you Orr and liberal lip smackers.... go into the game on the second series and kick so much ass the coaches play you the lions share of the game. Worried about the NFL, get some highlight film on you, last I checked the scouts aren't looking to see if you tossed the coin every game or started only to benched most of the game. The guy left the team on Game Day (a huge game for the team and it's recovery march) over starting not playing or injury. That's all you need to know. Save your sad sap stories for the media, I have plenty too over the years. Winners overcome, not run with their tail between their legs.
Wow,

 

[GatorFin]

After reading the article I get the sense that Orr made a panicked and bad choice based on his realization that time was running out on his college career and his chance to possibly make it in the NFL. He probably felt a lot of pressure to salvage his career in these last few games and when he was told that he might not get that chance he lost it and made an irrational decision.

If you want to play on Sundays you can't take any Saturday opportunities for granted and you need to play every down as if it's your last. If Leon had come to this realization earlier in his career he would still be on the team and his prospects would be a lot brighter. Tough lesson to learn.

Nailed it. It really makes the situation that much tougher when you realize how much desperation there was in there. It's almost as if he realized what was coming and decided to throw in the towel rather than face judgement day straight up at the draft.

 

[MJMGator]

The problem is Muschamp laid out a very harsh consequence that he had to back up. Maybe a wiser and more prudent course would have been to bench him for the entire game and readdress this at a later time.

Bench him? He friggin left and took a bus home. This is solely on Orr and he made his decision after being told the consequences. WTF do you people expect a coach to when a player tells his coach to start him or he's leaving?

 

[NavetG8r]

I don't know why people are even arguing over this. Muschamp already said in yesterday's presser Orr is done at UF. When asked a second time if Orr could do anything to get back on the team, Muschamp said "no". He's done, move on.

 

[alcoholica]

Didn't Marcus Thomas get booted during our 2006 run? He was a much better player than Orr and we've managed. Orr needs to start working out hard and getting ready for the combine. He needs to get with the right people who'll help him through the interview process, because this situation hurts him. He was a freak athlete coming out of HS, but I have no idea if he'll be a freak at the combine. If he kills the combine, he'll get drafted somewhere so long as he can show remorse and maturity in the aftermath of this.