Category: Gators in NFL

Gator greats the Pouncey twins retiring from NFL after decade of excellence

Two of the NFL’s finest offensive linemen of the past decade, the Pouncey twins, are calling it a career after years of excellence.

Editor’s note: This article was originally published by Touchdown Wire and has been republished in its entirety below.

Two of the finest offensive linemen of the past decade are calling it a career.

Twin brothers Maurkice and Mike Pouncey, with 13 total Pro Bowl selections between them, are retiring from the NFL. The news was revealed Friday morning in a Twitter post by Ramon Foster, a longtime teammate of Maurkice with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Maurkice was named to nine Pro Bowl squads in 10 seasons as the Steelers’ center. He also earned two first-team All-Pro selections and was picked for the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was selected No. 18 overall in the 2010 NFL draft by Pittsburgh.

Mike earned four Pro Bowl invitations during his decade-long pro career with the Miami Dolphins and Los Angeles Chargers. The No. 15 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, he mostly played center as a professional but also briefly served as a guard with the Dolphins.

The brothers starred as teammates at Lakeland High School in central Florida and at the University of Florida prior to their NFL careers. They were key members of the Gators’ BCS national championship team in the 2008 season.

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Top 101 player list for 2020 NFL season includes a pair of former Florida Gators

D.J. Humphries and Marcus Maye were the only two former Gators to appear on Pro Football Focus’ top-101 list after the 2020-21 season ended.

Steven Ryan/Getty Images

Pro Football Focus has released the PFF 101, its rankings of the 101 best players in football over the course of the 2020 season. Two former Gators, New York Jets safety Marcus Maye and Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle D.J. Humphries, cracked the list for the first time in their professional careers.

Here is a look at where they landed on the list.

NEXT: MARCUS MAYE, NEW YORK JETS

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

Former Gator Tommy Townsend chokes in second quarter of Super Bowl LV

The Kansas City Chiefs’ are having a rough go in Super Bowl LV and their punter, a former Florida Gator, isn’t making things any easier.

The defending world champion Kansas City Chiefs have two prominent former Gators on their roster, including punter Tommy Townsend. Townsend signed with KC as an undrafted free agent after an outstanding career wearing the orange and blue. On the whole, his rookie season was an excellent start to his pro career, but performance in Super Bowl LV has been one to forget.

The game got off to an unlucky start, as his first punt would have pinned the Bucs down on the goal line if it hadn’t taken an oddly sharp forward bounce. As they say, there’s no rest for the wicked, and the Chiefs’ faltering offense has necessitated a heavy workload for Townsend in the first half.

Things really went off the rails for the Florida alum in the second quarter of Super Bowl LV. He had a punt called back after bombing it over 50 yards downfield after video replay revealed he had dropped it prior to the punt. On the subsequent try, he struck the football with the side of his foot, giving the Tampa Bay Buccaneers excellent field position.

In other words, we can officially proclaim the idea that Tommy Townsend could be the Kansas City Chiefs’ secret weapon dead at the scene.

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This former Gator could be a secret weapon in Super Bowl LV

The Chiefs signed former UF punter Tommy Townsend before the season, and he thrived. Why not have another big game in the Super Bowl?

The former Florida Gators most likely to catch headlines in Super Bowl LV is Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, who has steadily been a good secondary option in the famed Kansas City passing attack. There was a chance that Robinson would be unable to play, but was ruled eligible on game day after a close-contact COVID scare. However, he’s not the only player to come out of the Swamp who could make an impact on this game.

Chiefs punter Tommy Townsend, once a Florida Gator, could stealthily make a real difference for the reigning world champions as they defend their title. That’s what Gatorsports’ David Whitley argued in a recent article after interviewing Townsend and a few of his relatives.

“Tommy Townsend might not be named MVP, but it’s a good bet this is one Super Bowl where the punter will not be overlooked,” wrote Whitley.

Sure, punters may not have the sexiest job in the world. However, although the piece was written in a half-joking tone, his point is a good one. The Chiefs and their challengers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, are obviously both very good football teams. This is the championship, after all. Every advantage possible makes a difference, including field position.

The Bucs’ selling point is their oppressive defense, but with Tom Brady at the helm and a deep core of pass-catchers, they have a roster that excels in most areas of the game. The Chiefs’ defensive unit is nothing to sneeze at, but their gameday plan is clearly driven by the offense. That being the case, every yard of field position to make the defensive squad’s job easier will be a boon to Kansas City’s chances.

That’s where Townsend comes in. The rookie was one of football’s best punters in 2020 after signing as a free agent with KC. He has in his hands (his foot? leg?) the ability to put up another obstacle in front of Tom Brady and force Tampa Bay to earn every score.

If don’t buy that a punter can be that impactful, fine. There’s a reason many punters are fairly anonymous. Either way, it’ll be fun to root for our boys in the biggest game of the year. “We bleed orange and blue,” said Townsend’s older brother to Whitley. There’s something we can all agree on.

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Former Florida Gators who played Super Bowls in the state of Florida

The Super Bowl will be played in Tampa marking the 17th time it has taken place in the Sunshine State – nearly a third of all played.

Super Bowl LV is nearly upon us! On Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who are unfamiliarly led by the legendary Tom Brady behind center — to decide who wears the 2020-21 crown for the National Football League.

This season’s Super Bowl will be played in Tampa, Florida, marking the 17th time the premier game has taken place in the Sunshine State, representing almost a third of the total 55 games played. 16 different UF alumni played in a total of 17 Super Bowls in the domain of Florida Man. Unfortunately, only five of them tasted the sweetness of the ultimate victory.

Here are the former Florida Gators who played for gridiron immortality in their alma mater’s state. Team names in bold denote that the former Gator played on the winning squad.

This pair of former Gators are look for rings in Super Bowl LV

Punter Tommy Townsend and receiver/returner Demarcus Robinson look to win rings for the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LV.

NFL Championship weekend is in the books, and the Super Bowl LV matchup is set: The Kansas City Chiefs, led by young superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, will take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady, who they added this offseason.

The defending champion Chiefs will look to reclaim their World Championship title for the second year in a row, and as they do, a pair of former Gators will be vying for rings: receiver Demarcus Robinson and punter Tommy Townsend.

Robinson already won the Super Bowl with Kansas City last year, but Townsend, a rookie, looks to capture his first.

The Chiefs selected Robinson in the fourth round in 2016, and since then, he’s been a fixture of this receiving corps. This season, he had 45 catches for 466 yards and three touchdowns.

Townsend joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent this past offseason, and though he wasn’t punting at the beginning of the year, he has since assumed the starting role. He has 50 punts on the season for an average of 45.1 yards.

The two former Gators will try to lead their team to a Super Bowl title in Tampa on Feb. 7.

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WATCH: Former Gator Marcus Maye makes amazing interception

Florida Gators football has a proud recent history of DB alumni, including New York Jets’ Marcus Maye who made a spectacular interception.

The New York Jets have had a historically miserable season this year, entering today’s game against the Seattle Seahawks winless with a record of 0-12 and little hope of breaking the streak. However, one former Florida Gator is still out on the gridiron giving it his all as the National Football League continues to plod along.

DBU alumnus Marcus Maye, now in his fourth year of pro ball, truly embodied the spirit of Tom Petty, refusing to back down on a deep pass toward the end zone in the first quarter of Sunday’s game. Set up in the shotgun at New York’s 37-yard line, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson targeted receiver DK Metcalf heading towards the end zone, but Maye was not having any of it.

At just about the 4-yard line, the talented defensive back leaped up into the air and tipped the incoming pass to himself, grabbing the ball with both hands just before he crossed the goal line plane. He held on for the touchback, saving his peers from further embarrassment in a game they were already down 7-3.

Unfortunately, the Jets were unable to respond on the ensuing drive, and as of 10:04 in the second quarter, are down 17-3.

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WATCH: Former Gators receiver Van Jefferson records first NFL touchdown

Watch as Jefferson, who plays for the Los Angeles Rams, scored a vital touchdown in his team’s winning effort on Monday evening.

Wide receiver Van Jefferson, who was a Florida Gator during his redshirt junior and senior years, recorded his first NFL touchdown on Monday evening.

Jefferson, who became the Los Angeles Rams‘ second-round draftee in April, hasn’t been a big part of the Los Angeles offense so far this season. He’s averaged just 1.7 targets per game in 2020 and completed ten of those pass attempts. However, his lone target of the Week 11 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came in a big moment as he reeled in a game-tying pass with less than five minutes left before halftime.

Jefferson has never shied away from physical gameplay, which makes him a natural target in the red zone. His willingness to play tough obviously paid dividends for the Rams in this game, as he launched himself into the end zone backward to ensure he would cross the plane before being brought to the ground.

Hopefully, this serves as a precursor to increased involvement in the Los Angeles passing attack for Jefferson. Rams quarterback Jared Goff has understandably divided most of his first looks between other pass-catching options; Jefferson has to compete with a strong receiving corps of Cooper Kupp, Robert Woods, Josh Reynolds, and Tyler Higbee for targets.

On the other hand, the Rams invested a relatively valuable pick in the Gators’ former wideout and undoubtedly have plans to integrate him more fully into their offense sooner than later. This touchdown will presumably be the first of many in his professional career.

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WATCH: Former Gators linebacker Jon Greenard records first NFL sack

Jonathan Greenard’s career has finally gotten going these past couple of games and he recorded his first career professional sack on Sunday.

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Former Florida Gators linebacker Jonathan Greenard, who played his final year of collegiate eligibility in Gainesville after three years with the Louisville Cardinals, has finally made his mark in his second career National Football League game.

After sitting out the first five games of his rookie season with the Houston Texans, Greenard earned appearances in the last two, including Sunday’s matchup with the New England Patriots. On the first play of the fourth quarter, the greenhorn linebacker scored his first professional sack against also-former-Gator Cam Newton after a slick inside move on the offensive lineman.

Greenard’s debut NFL appearance came last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars, in which he recorded two assisted and one solo tackle while playing on 83 percent of the snaps. So far in this game, his sack is the lone stat recorded.

Hopefully, he can continue to make his presence felt this season in the professional ranks. If given the chance, Greenard has the potential to eventually earn a starting spot — all he needs is the reps.

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WATCH: Former Gator Lamical Perine scores first NFL touchdown

The former Gator made his first big mark in the professional ranks with a rushing touchdown vs the Buffalo Bills in Week 7 of NFL action.

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Former Gators running back Lamical Perine, who was selected by the New York Jets in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on Sunday in the Jets’ game against Buffalo.

He took it in on the ground from five yards out to give New York a 10-0 lead over the Bills.

He’s been limited to just three appearances this season due to an injury suffered during the preseason, but with the release of running back Le’Veon Bell last week, Perine is expected to see a bigger role in the offense moving forward.

So far on the season, Perine has 22 carries for 88 yards and a touchdown during his rookie season. Throughout four years at Florida, he averaged five yards a carry, totaling 2,485 rushing yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on 493 carries. He also scored eight touchdowns through the air.

With him already having 10 carries in the game against Buffalo at the time of writing, it seems he’s already stepping in to help pick up the slack Bell used to carry.

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