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Waiting game Gators' Palmer spends each week wondering what's up
Posted: Wednesday December 01, 1999 06:31 PM
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -- Jesse Palmer is nearing the end of a wasted season in which he played a supporting role in the repetitive saga known as the Florida quarterback controversy. Will he play or won't he? Can he give the Gators a lift or can't he? All those questions are valid again as No. 5 Florida prepares to play No. 7 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference title game Saturday. It's the topic that pervades Palmer's every moment -- walking down the street, walking over to practice, walking to class. "You'd think you can go home for Thanksgiving and spend time with your family and not worry about it," Palmer said. "I get home and give everyone a hug and the first thing they ask is if I'm playing in two weeks." As usual, coach Steve Spurrier is keeping his plans secret. He's getting both Palmer and Doug Johnson ready. Since the 30-23 loss to Florida State two weeks ago, Spurrier has hinted at everything from sticking with one for the whole game, to rotating each play, to rotating every few plays, which is where he seemed to be leaning at midweek. "Sometimes I think Jesse ought to start and then sometimes I think, Doug's played more this year," Spurrier said. "I wish I had a clear-cut answer. It would be a lot easier." Palmer can't help but agree. Since the end of last season, he has been on the short end of almost every decision Spurrier has made in reference to the quarterback position. It started after the Orange Bowl, when Spurrier promised the starting job for 1999 to Johnson, who had broken an ankle in the game. It continued this season when Spurrier held Palmer out of several games, erroneously thinking he might be able to gain a medical redshirt year for the junior, who still experienced soreness from the broken collarbone he sustained in October 1998. Palmer finally got his chance, three weeks ago against South Carolina, but he didn't provide the answers Spurrier was looking for, throwing for 161 yards in a 20-3 victory. Nor did he come through the way the coach hoped in the loss to Florida State. Asked if that game would help him determine who would start this week, Spurrier responded: "I have to go back and grade the tapes just to see who doesn't do dumb, stupid things." Dumb and stupid weren't the words most closely associated with Palmer at the beginning of last year. With Johnson in Spurrier's doghouse, Palmer took over the starting spot against LSU and seemed to be prospering. He had thrown for 1,246 yards and 14 touchdowns with only five interceptions when an offensive lineman whiffed on a block and left Palmer to be blindsided, his collarbone broken and his season aborted. When it ended, Palmer was the third-rated quarterback in the country. "I could have been an All-American, I could have been everything, but that is all shoulda, woulda, coulda," Palmer said. "Right now, you just deal with what is happening and what you are doing at the moment." What he's doing lately is waiting and wondering. Somehow, he manages to maintain a good attitude. "There's still a lot of time left," Palmer said. "We have two games and all of next season to look forward to. Right now, when I look back on my career here, I'm pleased."
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