Florida’s Chris Rainey Eligible To Play Against Georgia Following Arrest Last Month

The junior was arrested on aggravated stalking charges earlier this season after he threatened his girlfriend via text message. Meyer has said that Rainey will have to follow the terms of a contract he signed with the team and the university detailing the steps of his return to the squad, steps not including the anger management classes and other work Rainey is required to do as part of his criminal case.

Rainey is the 25th player arrested in Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville.

Almost a month after being arrested on stalking charges, Florida receiver Chris Rainey is back to practicing with the team.

Florida coach Urban Meyer issued a statement Tuesday saying that Rainey has returned to practice, will not play against Mississippi State this weekend, and may play later this season.

Cervone added that he won’t consider dropping the case entirely though, “because [he is] concerned when young people act in this way and believe that we should intervene at least to the point of forcing a cooling off period.”

The ol’ “cooling off period.” Law 101, right there.

Huntley Johnson, a Gainesville attorney who knows from getting Gators out of jail, thinks Chris Rainey could escape those pesky stalking charges without a felony rap.

“It doesn’t fit the elements of the crime,” Johnson said. “This kid was never going to hurt her. She knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. The fact that he misspoke in the text is not something to crucify this kid for.”

I feel you there, Huntley. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tripped over something and hit enough keys on my phone on the way down to text death threats to my nearest and dearest.

Associated Press reporter Mark Long quotes Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio as saying Chris Rainey “is no longer with the team.”

That would sound like a final dismissal, except for the fact that Urban Meyer has shown mercy for firing an AK-47 in public before, and “no longer with the team” is just slippery enough to actually mean “he can work his way back into our good graces.”

Shortly thereafter, Rainey was taken into custody, and admitted sending the text message. Not like he needed to seeing as, you know, the text message itself is pretty substantial evidence.

There’s no word from the university or athletic department on what, if any, punishment Rainey will face. Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates.