For some NFL prospects, losing has its benefits
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Florida center Jonotthan Harrison couldn't stop the Gators' locker room from fracturing during a frustrating season last year.
11 a.m. Wednesday, April 23
Tyler Dunne, beat writer
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Green Bay — The breaking point came on Nov. 23, 2013. Minutes after the unthinkable — a loss to Georgia Southern — Florida players gathered in the locker room.
Pads were still on. Tempers were flaring. Head coach Will Muschamp ordered a player to talk to the team. Anyone. So, being a fifth-year senior, center Jonotthan Harrison stepped into the middle of the mayhem.
And then one defensive lineman — Harrison won't use names — yanked him out and shoved a freshman linebacker to the center. The two shouted at each other with coaches grabbing Harrison and pulling him out of the locker room before punches were thrown.
"We were falling apart," Harrison said, "crumbling as a team."
Ah, yes, Florida Gators football.
Last season was hell on earth for this once-proud program. Florida limped to a humiliating 4-8 finish, regressing from powerhouse to laughingstock. Listen to Harrison detail the 2013 Gators and you can't help but think of David Bakhtiari's final season at Colorado.
Like Harrison, Bakhtiari tried to stop teammates from partying the night before games. Like Harrison, he was a captain. No depth of despair, no soul-searching speech to the masses helped.
Yet, maybe there's a power in losing. Not just any losing, rather the embarrassing, straight-to-Jay Leno variety. Losing this way can thicken the skin. As the Green Bay Packers starting left tackle, nothing fazed Bakhtiari. Bryan Bulaga tore his ACL, the 109th-overall pick stepped in, locked horns with the game's best pass rushers and now it's his job to lose.
We tend to glorify the "winners," the "gamers" this time of year. Well, losing has its virtues.
"I don't let small things affect me anymore," Harrison said. "I don't let small things faze me. I've learned to drown out the nonsense, the clutter. I've learned to accept things that only get me better and to completely ignore the negativity, the clutter that can't help me succeed in life. It's just made me a lot stronger."
So over the phone, the 6-foot-3, 304-pound Harrison is asked about "that incident" with another player.
Silence.
"Which one?" he asks. "Are you talking about the blocking incident?"
No, but that was rough, too. In the 26-20 loss to Georgia Southern, Harrison inexplicably blocked his own teammate, a lowlight that ran as the No. 1 "Not Top Ten" on Sportscenter for several weeks. It's hard keeping the misery straight.
There also was the game against Arkansas. Harrison cut a linebacker at the second level and that player, according to Harrison, used a slew of racial slurs. Immediately, Harrison went to an official to report the player, accidentally touched that official and was ejected.
The N-word was used in ways Harrison never imagined.
"Some things I've never even thought of," Harrison said. "It was like he went out of his way. The play was still going on and he was just hovering over me."
And all along, the losses mounted. Self-entitlement became contagious. Harrison paints a picture of complete chaos. In the locker room, he said players across position groups pointed fingers. The defensive linemen yelled at the offensive linemen for not blocking. Receivers blamed linebackers.
Harrison heard "fire this coach, fire that coach." In the stands, it got nasty.
From August to December, the state of affairs "just got worst."
"We had a lot of individuals on the team," Harrison said. "Having individuals on your team kind of kills your team. We had people who thought they were entitled because of the school that they went to....There was always someone to blame. No one wanted to take it on themselves."
In the moment, this gets maddening for the captains. Colorado went 1-11 in 2012. Bakhtiari remembers teammates herding to "Ladies Nights" on Thursdays. At Colorado, he said there was a "lack of performance, lack of preparation, lack of caring." Total dysfunction.
Same sad story in Gainesville.
Oh, Harrison tried. Speaking after practice, Harrison told underclassmen those hangovers will linger. Come game time, you're on fumes. Yet players kept on sneaking girls into the team hotel or sneaking out themselves.
"How serious can you take this game," Harrison said, "if that's what you're focused on 24-48 hours before the game?"
He told them to go to class — "academically ineligible" is a real thing. Domestic disputes are unacceptable. Bar fights have to stop. One bad decision "trickles down," he explained, whatever that bad decision is.
Being a captain on Florida State, on Alabama, on Oregon is one thing. Winning breeds happiness, harmony. Being a captain on a sinking ship is another.
In the NFL, Harrison will be at the vortex of on-field chaos — diagnosing defenses, running the no-huddle, making protection calls. A projected mid-to-late round pick, he says last fall prepared him. Really, all NFL general managers should hunt for the prospects who dug deep, the Bakhtiaris, the ones who endured.
The tape of a player who's trailing by 21 points is telling.
Digging deep matters...even when a freshman is disrespecting you in front of the entire team.
Harrison wanted to retaliate. Today, he says he "was about to jump down his throat — I was close."
He cooled off. He survived one of the worst seasons in Florida history.
Hey, losing helps sometimes.
"It's a real humbling experience, honestly," Harrison said. "It really forces you to kind of to re-center yourself, refocus yourself on the task at hand.
"Things are going to happen. Losses are going to happen. You're going to lose a play, no matter who you're going against. But you're ability to recover from that, bounce back, and have a short-term memory, makes you a great player."
Send email to tdunne@journalsentinel.com
This column appeared in Packer Plus Magazine.
Read more from Journal Sentinel: http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/floridas-jonotthan-harrison-learns-from-experience-b99250437z1-256269111.html#ixzz2zizIJr2I
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I true, I'm shocked. I was certain he had laid down the law and cleaned things up.
From: gatortalk@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatortalk@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Oliver Barry
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 11:15 AM
To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: [gatortalk] Jonathan Harrison Interview
Hmm… Muschamp had better get his coaching in order. If he doesn't, he'll be gone after this season.
I hope he has, I want to see success this fall. I don't care who the coach is, just bring back success.
Oliver Barry, CRS, GRI
Bob Parks Realty, LLC
REO Department
145 Maple Row Blvd
Hendersonville TN 37075
Phone: 615-826-4040
Mobile: 615-972-4239
From: gatortalk@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatortalk@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Stephen Manuel
Sent: Wednesday, April 23, 2014 8:56 AM
To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com
Subject: [gatortalk] Jonathan Harrison Interview
Fellow Gator Fans,
Here's a link to an interview with former Gator Jonathan Harrison. It will leave you shaking your head about what happened last season.
Maybe it's just me, but the article gave me a queasy feeling about next season.
From what Jonathan Harrison said, last year from the top down the program was completely out of control.
I'm not worried about fights between players, that happens from time to time, probably more so when the team is losing, but the partying, sneaking out of the team hotel, etc…leads me to believe the program was out of control.
The culture of the program is set at the top, which is Will Muschamp and maybe some new coaches will help change the culture, but the article left my confidence in Will Muschamp a little shaken..
Stephen Manuel
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY!
1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions
2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions
2008 National Football Champions |
Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996),
Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
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