- Congress is unlikely to quickly pass legislation to reform college football amid intense partisan conflict on Capitol Hill.
- Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel reflected on 30 years since Florida's national title and expressed pride in helping recruit coach Jon Sumrall.
- People calling for the end of preseason polls in college football need to get a grip and enjoy the ride.
The Front 9 comes at you after watching animals lining up two-by-two this week. I prayed for rain during our drought but not this much.
1. Seriously, did anyone think that Congress was going to save college football expediently? Come on. On Capitol Hill, it’s not what you get done, it’s how you stop things from getting done. Republicans vs. Democrats is Alabama vs. Auburn, America vs. Iran, and Duke vs. Carolina all wrapped into one true hate fest. Maybe they come back in September and get the guardrails put in place, but don’t count on it.
2. We need some real games because I am worn out thinking that something is real and then it really is just people trying to create clickbait. The latest was the College Football Playoff committee capping expansion at 19 teams and media boys and girls trying to push North Carolina and FSU and Miami on different conferences. Let me know when real news happens.
3. FOMO game of the week
Sundays are for the NFL, right? Well, not during the exhibition season. You have six games on Thursday this week, three more on Friday including the Bucs at the Jets (7 p.m., NFL Network) and six more on Saturday including Jaguars at New Orleans (4 p.m., ESPN). Watch, but never bet on preseason games.
4. Four questions with Heisman winner and national champ Danny Wuerffel
- Can you believe it has been 30 years since your senior year and the national title?
Wuerffel: Some days it feels like it was just yesterday. And others it feels like it was a few lifetimes ago. Amazing that it’s been 30 years. - Which team gave you a worse beating — Nebraska in ’95 title game or FSU ’96 regular season game?
Wuerffel: I feel like I still have some soreness from both the Fiesta Bowl at the end of the ‘95 season and the first Florida State game in 1996. I think the loss to Nebraska lasted longer because we had a whole off-season to deal with it. So physically and psychologically that was tough. After the first FSU loss in 1996, we only had a couple days to regroup to play Alabama and move on, so we had to get over that one quickly. - Which have you done more — show people your statue in front of the stadium or watched a replay of Ike Hilliard’s stop-and-pop touchdown in the Sugar Bowl?
Wuerffel: I’ve definitely watched and showed a lot of people that amazing move that Ike did in the Sugar Bowl. However, I keep coming back to the stadium multiple times a year and people sure seem to get a lot of joy out of seeing the statues, so probably that a little bit more. - How proud are you that you helped the Gators land Jon Sumrall?
Wuerffel: At this point, I’m super proud of the job that Sumrall has done and grateful that I was a part of the decision. And it seems Gator Nation is pretty excited about him after all the great work he’s done this offseason. However, the only thing that really matters is wins, so we’ll all be a lot happier and prouder after we start chalking up wins.
5. Five great seasons that ended with the number six
- 1966 – Some guy named Spurrier won the Heisman.
- 1986 – It started badly but ended with Kerwin’s legendary 2-pointer to beat Auburn and wins over Georgia and FSU.
- 1996 – I think you know what happened. If you don’t, we can’t be friends.
- 2006 – Another natty in the 100th year of UF football.
- 2016 – Won the SEC East with Shark Boy as the coach.
6. This will happen this week
I will explain to people that if you don’t think it’s difficult to play in New York, check out the MLB standings where the Yanks lead the league in road wins but don’t lead their division. I’ll ignore what they did to my Braves this weekend.
7. Hot take of the week
(With apologies to Barbra Streisand) People … people who hate rankings … are the fussiest people … in my world. Golly, the latest coaches’ poll — on which Jon Sumrall is a voter — came out and people started losing their minds. Oh, I’m not talking about the overrated/underrated crowd. I’m talking about the people screaming from the top of their lighthouses that preseason polls have to stop. They blame the first poll of the year for influencing the last one. They don’t see the point of ranking teams before they have played a game, especially with the portal influence. Get a grip. Here is what preseason polls are — not binding. Just enjoy it. You want to worry about something, worry about the CFP committee.
8. Tweet of the week
From CFBHome and I am not going to bother to check if this is accurate because it made me laugh: “Florida A&M has 4 more wins than Florida State in the 2020s Decade. FAMU didn’t even participate in the 2020 Covid Season. Best program in Tallahassee.”
9. Remote drop of the week
I am a big fan of Pee-wee Herman’s show and loved the HBO documentary on Paul Reubens. So, yes, “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” is still one of the funniest movies ever with a lot of silly and inside jokes.