Cris Carter helps UF heal
GAINESVILLE — Florida players returned to practice Monday after three days off, reuniting for the first time since walk-on teammate Michael Guilford and a passenger died in a motorcycle crash Friday morning.
Coach Urban Meyer invited former NFL star Cris Carter to speak to the team Monday morning about dealing with the loss of a teammate.
Carter, whom Meyer called a close friend, was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles when Jerome Brown was killed in an automobile accident in 1992 and was a member of the Minnesota Vikings when Korey Stringer died from heatstroke during training camp in 2001.
The team attended a private memorial service for Guilford after Monday night's practice. Guilford's funeral is today in Blountstown.
"A lot of people respect Cris Carter, and just to hear him go through the same thing and how he handled it, it gave us an opportunity to see or give us ideas of ways that we can handle the situation," linebacker Dustin Doe said.
"I think we're going to handle it OK. He's one of our brothers. ... It hurts, but the only thing we can do is keep living."
Guilford, a walk-on redshirt freshman who served as the scout team quarterback, was nicknamed "Sunshine" after a character in the movie Remember the Titans.
Police said Guilford, 19, was driving at least 25 mph over the speed limit when he hit a curb and ejected himself and passenger Ashley Slonina, 20, from the bike. Neither Guilford nor Slonina, also a UF student, was wearing a helmet.
Slonina was dating freshman cornerback Joe Haden, teammates said. Haden practiced Monday but did not speak with reporters.
"Joe's dealing with it," Meyer said. "It's obviously a very, very difficult situation."
Counselors were available for players who wanted to speak about Guilford's death, and quarterback Tim Tebow said he spoke with several teammates. Many players were away from campus until Sunday.
"So many guys on the team cared about Sunshine that it hurt a lot of guys, but he'd want us to go out and play football," Tim Tebow said. "That was the No. 1 thing he loved to do, was to go out and play football, so we're going to go and play for him."
Cameron Newton does not practice: Freshman backup quarterback Cameron Newton did not practice because of a sprained ankle, offensive coordinator Dan Mullen said.
Cameron Newton injured the ankle late last week and has been wearing a boot while it heals. Mullen said Cameron Newton was able to walk and throw Monday, and will try to practice today. If Cameron Newton is not ready by the end of the week, junior Bryan Waggoner would be Tim Tebow's backup against Kentucky. Coaches intend to redshirt freshman John Brantley.
Noteworthy: CBS will broadcast Saturday's game against Kentucky, as well as the Oct. 27 game against Georgia. Both games will start at 3:30 p.m.
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