FOUR BITS: Dowling, Thomas, Benjamin, Brown

1 » Florida Gators freshman safety Jonathan Dowling is excited about his first season of college football, but no game is getting him more pumped up than one coming up on Oct 2. “I can’t wait until the Alabama game,” Dowling told the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. “I am just going to keep working hard, doing what I am told. Hopefully I can get on the field this year. That is my main goal. I will just keep going as hard as I can these next few weeks and that decision will be left up to the coaches.” Dowling also said that junior S Will Hill has taken him under his wing. “I follow everything he does, learn as much as I can,” he said. “He teaches me as much as he can so I just pay attention to everything he does and try to copy everything he does to the best of my ability. I want to make myself as good as he is, or try to get even better.”

2 » Rookie quarterback Tim Tebow may be getting all of the attention from Florida fans, but three other former Gators – defensive end Jarvis Moss, wide receiver Jabar Gaffney and defensive tackle Marcus Thomas are also trying to do big things with the Denver Broncos. “It’s down to the wire,” Thomas told The Gainesville Sun’s Pat Dooley. “I put it in the mindset that I’m back in college. This is the fourth year of college. It’s time to start producing. You can’t be a rookie forever. I see guys get cut and never sign on with anyone else. I don’t want people to be wondering what ever happened to [me].”

Reflecting on his college career, Thomas wishes he could have done things differently. “I look back at Florida and I really, really blew it. I’m definitely more mature now. I thought I had thrown my career away at the time,” he said. “[I] missed out on the national championship game. I was happy they won but I should have been out there. It hurt. It really hurt. On the flip side, when I was watching the game, I was wishing I was playing for Ohio State. There was some resentment. But when I look back, I was being prepared for the real world. In college, you’re still being babied. You come out here and there are no second or third chances. […] The [Gators] had some regulations and restrictions I pretty much violated. I was doing well on the field and I felt like they pretty much needed me. I thought I was bigger than the team. Urban [Meyer] proved I wasn’t.”

3 » Glades Central High School head coach Jessie Hester has told the Palm Beach Post’s Jason Lieser that four-star WR recruit Kelvin Benjamin (Belle Glade, FL) currently has Florida in the lead for his services. At 6’5” and over 200 lbs., Benjamin is one of the best players in the country and will likely stay in the state no matter what school he chooses. “I think he’s leaning toward Florida right now, believe it or not. He’s up there a lot,” Hester, a former Florida State WR, said. “Miami’s just down the road and I know he hasn’t been there much — if any. The only time he went to Florida State was when we had the 7-on-7 [event]. So I think it’s Florida.”

4 » Just two days after being “outed” by Star Magazine as the woman with whom country music star Kenny Chesney is having an affair, former Gators softball player and ESPN sideline reporter Jenn Brown has been announced as Icehouse’s new national spokesperson and brand ambassador. “Icehouse doesn’t take itself too seriously,” Brown said in a company press release. “It’s like a loyal friend who’s always having fun and knows that time spent with buddies should never be less than great… and never watered down. And what’s better than watching football with an ice-cold Icehouse?” Watching it with almost any other beer on the market.

Photo Credit: Davide De Pas