In a response to seven members of the Florida Gators football team deciding, over the last week, to continue their respective careers elsewhere, a pair of the team’s upperclassmen spoke publicly in support of the program while seemingly announcing they intend to stay put for a fifth season.
A source close to redshirt junior wide receiver Quinton Dunbar divulged Sunday, in a report published by this writer on InsidetheGators.com, that the pass catcher planned to return for his senior season. He appeared to confirm just that on Monday.
“I came back to school to leave as a champion I won a championship throughout every faze of my life It’s a must I get one in college,” he wrote on Twitter.
Dunbar set a Florida record this season by catching a pass in 28 consecutive games with the Gators. He was one of UF’s most consistent receivers in 2013, especially early in the season when junior quarterback Jeff Driskel was healthy, and should be a big part of the offense once again in 2014. He finished the year with just 40 receptions for 548 yards and never found the end zone.
Redshirt junior defensive tackle Leon Orr, who took a major step forward in his fourth year and finished with 2.5 sacks (third-most on the team), echoed Dunbar’s sentiment but was even more impassioned, taking a shot at some of his former teammates who left the program this offseason.
“Everybody jumping like we got a sunken ship …. Put it on my mama we gone take off next fall with no mercy for anyone!” he wrote on his account, which features a display name of “Loyalty’s Everything.”
Starting in the middle of Florida’s defensive line, Orr picked up 4.5 tackles for loss on the year and also recovered two fumbles.
Both players considered leaving early for the 2014 NFL Draft though each likely would have either been a late-round selection or gone undrafted.
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