Florida football did more than break the spirits of the South Carolina Gamecocks in their homecoming game last Saturday. The frustrating defeat also resulted in head coach Shane Beamer breaking his right foot following over the Gators’ 41-39 comeback victory.
On Tuesday, the injury made national headlines as Beamer admitted that he “kicked something I shouldn’t have kicked” after his team fell to 2-4 on the season.
“It hurts like you-know-what, but I gotta show toughness,” Beamer said with a smile. “It’s been one of those years … We’ll be like, faking punts from the 2-yard line on fourth-and-30 because I’ll be loopy if I’m on pain meds, so have to make sure I can fight through with no pain meds.”
However, the skipper was quick to take full accountability for his poor reaction.
“Before anybody starts the narrative that the head football coach is frustrated and lost his poise and all that, no, I care,” Beamer said. “I care about these kids, and I was really upset on Saturday that I didn’t do enough to help them get over the hump to win the football game.”
Athletic director Ray Tanner “died laughing” when Beamer called him to tell him what happened but that does not mean that his temper tantrum was acceptable.
“Like I told the players, I don’t condone it. I’m not saying that it’s OK to kick things after a game goes bad,” Beamer said. “I feel bad as a dad because my kids saw me and were like ‘what the heck.’ So, lesson learned. Stupid on my part.”
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