1 » Florida Gators running back/sprinter Jeff Demps and jumper Shara Proctor were both named Athlete of the Week by the Southeastern Conference for their performances during the Virgina Tech Elite Meet track and field competition over the weekend. Demps, who participated in the first indoor meet of his career, placed second in the finals of the men’s 60-meter dash and was honored as SEC Male Freshman of the Week. His 6.61 time was the second-fastest time in school history and one hundredth of a second off of the NCAA automatic-qualifying standard. Proctor won both the women’s triple jump and long jump setting “automatic-qualifying marks, school-record marks, SEC-leading marks and nation-leading marks in both events,” according to the University Athletic Association.

2 » Former Gators quarterback Tim Tebow and Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew will serve as Grand Marshals for the Gatorade Duel at Daytona on Thursday. Consisting of two 60-lap races, the Gatorade Duel is a qualifying event for the Daytona 500. Tebow will recite the famous, “Gentlemen, start your engines!” line before the first race. So much for focusing solely on football.

Extra Bit » The No. 5/3 Florida softball team was chosen to win the SEC East Division in the annual coaches’ preseason poll. The Gators look to return to the Women’s College World Series after falling to the Washington Huskies in the 2009 championship series.

Tags: Daytona 500, field, Gatorade Duel, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jeff Demps, Maurice Jones-Drew, SEC, Shara Proctor, softball, Tim Tebow, track, Virginia Tech Elite Meet

1 » The 2009 NFL Playoffs may have begun with seven but only one former Florida Gators player has made it to Super Bowl XLIV at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, FL. That man is New Orleans Saints defensive end Bobby McCray, who did not have a dominating regular season but has had quite an impact on his team’s first two playoff games. Making it a point to hit both Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and Minnesota Vikings QB Brett Favre hard, McCray knocked each out of the game for a short period of time. Now he will turn his focus on NFL MVP and Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning. Keep an eye on No. 93 throughout the game on Sunday.

2 » All of the pre-2010 NFL Draft attention has been focused on former Gators QB Tim Tebow (wide receiver Riley Cooper has received a little, too), but linebacker Brandon Spikes is preparing for the biggest job interview of his career, too. Staying quiet while training and working out after a sub-par (for him) season, Spikes is doing whatever he can to impress scouts at the NFL Scouting Combine from Feb. 24 to March 2. “I’m anxious to get started,” Spikes told Jeremy Fowler of the Orlando Sentinel. “Hopefully, I can go to the league and grab it by the neck.” Speaking about the future at Florida, Spikes was optimistic. “Those younger players know what we started and the legacy we have here. They just want to keep it going. I say it all the time to my younger group, the linebacker corps, those guys are talented. The sky’s the limit for those guys. If they continue to work and buy into the program, they’ll have the same success.”

Read how Jeff Demps, Chris Rainey and Frankie Hammond fared in track and field action and how gymnastics and tennis performed this weekend after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: McCray in Super Bowl, weekend wrap-up

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Alexandre Lacroix, Antoine Benneteau, Bobby McCray, Brandon Spikes, Chris Rainey, combine, Draft, field, Florida Atlantic Owls, Frankie Hammond, George Washington Colonials, gymnastics, Indianapolis Colts, Jeff Demps, Linder Stadium, Mariam Kevkhishvili, N.C. State Wolfpack, NCAA, New Orleans Saints, NFL, Peyton Manning, Playoffs, Rector Field House, Ring Tennis Complex, Shara Proctor, Sun Life Stadium, Super Bowl XLIV, tennis, Tim Tebow, track, Virginia Tech Elite Meet

1 » When former Florida Gators assistant Anthony Grant left the program a few years ago to take over the Virginia Commonwealth Rams, head coach Billy Donovan wished him luck. When Donovan left the team after the 2007 National Championship game, Grant’s name was the first called by Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley to replace the long-time head coach. However, a change of heart by Donovan thurst Grant back to VCU, where he would eventually be tabbed as head coach by the Alabama Crimson Tide. Mentor and assistant will square-off for the first time Thursday in Tuscaloosa, AL. “You never like to play against one of your friends, but Anthony and I have a great relationship,” Donovan said.

2 » Speaking of Donovan, his frontcourt players from those championship seasons (and even the year after) have been experiencing a lot of success in the NBA recently. Philadelphia 76ers center Marreese Speights spoke with the Philadelphia Daily News about how genuinely happy he is that former teammate and now Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah is finding success in the pros. “He and a lot of the other guys were really good at watching out for me when I first got to Florida,” Speights said. “That meant a lot. It’s good to see him doing so well in the league, but it’s not surprising. He always has had a great work ethic, trying to improve his game in every way. He improved a lot in college, from not playing a lot as a freshman to becoming someone who could have been taken with the first overall pick.”

There are four more BITS waiting for you after the jump!
Continue Reading » SIX BITS: Grant, Speights, Tebow, Easley, honors

Tags: Alabama Crimson Tide, Allie Will, Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan, Chicago Bulls, Dominique Easley, field, Jacksonville Jaguars, Jeremy Foley, Jeremy Postin, Joakim Noah, Marreese Speights, NBA, NFL, Philadelphia 76ers, SEC, Shara Proctor, Tim Tebow, track, Uche Nwaneri, Virginia Commonwealth Rams

1 » One story surrounding the 2010 Under Armour Senior Bowl was former Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow’s lingering illness. Believed to be a strep throat early in the week, Tebow was actually suffering from a viral infection of his esophagus. Pam Tebow, Tim’s mother, said his sickness was “much worse than strep throat” and caused eating to be too painful for him throughout the week. Tebow met with a doctor all week and lost more than 10 pounds over the course of the week.

2 » While many sports writers have spent the last week criticizing Tebow, Sports Illustrated’s Stewart Mandel took a look at the situation from another angle. Former Purdue Boilermakers head coach Joe Tiller, who coached Drew Brees, Curtis Painter and Kyle Orton (among others), laughed at all of Tebow’s doubters. “I can remember NFL critics saying the same thing when Drew was a senior,” Tiller told Mandel. “‘He’s in that Purdue offense all the time. He lines up in the shotgun all the time, and our guys line up under center. It’s not like college football has a monopoly on the shotgun formation. Now that I’m out of coaching, I’ve watched more NFL football this year than I have the last 10 years combined. There’s hardly any team in the league that doesn’t have their quarterback in the shotgun anymore. [...] The entire league is doing what Drew Brees was criticized for coming out of college. [...] Actually, I think a guy coming out in the shotgun is better equipped than a guy coming out of center.”

3 » Fifty-one University of Florida student athletes were named to the 2009-10 Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for the fall semester. Football led the way with 23 honorees, followed by soccer (18) and volleyball (10). Prominent names on the list include Tebow, sophomore RB Jeff Demps, junior punter Chas Henry, senior kicker Jonathan Phillips and junior kicker Caleb Sturgis.

4 » Florida track and field was responsible eight provisional-qualifying marks/times, three event wins and two NCAA automatic-qualifying marks/times during the Texas A&M Challenge in College Station, TX, on Saturday. The second half of the event was highlighted by thrower Mariam Kevkhishvili and jumper Shara Proctor, who earned the NCAA automatic-qualifying bids. For more information on the Gators’ performances over the weekend, click here (day one) or here (day two).

Tags: Academic Honor Roll, Caleb Sturgis, Chas Henry, Drew Brees, field, Jeff Demps, Joe Tiller, Jonathan Phillips, Mariam Kevkhishvili, NCAA, Pam Tebow, Purdue Boilermakers, SEC, Senior Bowl, Shara Proctor, soccer, Texas A&M Challenge, Tim Tebow, track, Under Armour, University of Florida, volleyball