Gainesville, Fla. (AP) — Florida defensive lineman Brendan Bett had planned to apologise to his teammates, fans and his spitters during a 18-16 defeat in South Florida, coach Billy Napier said Monday.
Napier said the currently unpaid Gator (1-1) has yet to decide whether BETT will be suspended in Saturday night’s match at No. 3 LSU (2-0).
“The kids regret it,” Napier said. “It feels like he’s disappointed the team. In general, it wasn’t a character for him. He made mistakes and compromised the team. He made selfish decisions. He misrepresented our fans, our alumni and our university.
“When a young man comes to your office and his immediate concern is that he didn’t express this place the right way, I think it’s a good sign of his attitude towards it.”
Napier said Bette faces “internal discipline.”
Napier added that Bette is due to talk to the team before practice Monday and is due to “publicly apologize.”
“We’ve even reached out to him to the younger guys from other teams,” the coach added. “So the stones aren’t turned over here in terms of maximizing this for him to learn, and in terms of seeing how other players take ownership of the mistake and go through this the right way.”
The bet was kicked out on Saturday during his final drive against USF. This drove the Bulls into an astonishing victory, and an astonishing victory that landed Nepia in a boring hot seat.
Bett, who transferred to Florida this year after two seasons at Baylor, was kicked out into the locker room after spitting out the face mask of Bulls offensive lineman Cole Skinner, and was escorted to the locker room and flagged for acts that were like a locked room. It was one of two penalties rated against the Gators during an 87-yard drive, setting a 20-yard field goal for Nicogramatika on the final play.
A bet spew occurred two days after the Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle was kicked out as Philadelphia Eagles defensive tackle was spewed by NFL opener Dalas Quarterback Duck Prescott.
A few days ago, Intermiami star Louis Suarez spewed at the Sounders staff in Seattle’s League Cup soccer final, grabbing the Seattle player with his neck after his loss.
Bett was not Napier’s first player to spit out during the game. Defensive lineman Jamali Lions were thrown after being spitted by a Florida state player late in the first half of Florida’s 24-15 home loss to the 2023 Seminoles.
“Brendan, he’s the one with the players,” quarterback DJ Lagway said after the game. “He made a mistake there. It doesn’t identify his character at all. He’s a very nice guy, a nice kid, a nice guy in the locker room. He was crying there.
“We won’t hold it against anyone. He’ll be ready this week.”
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