Steve Spurrier would like you to know that he never told Jeremy Shockey his 2000 Florida team got beat up by the Miami Hurricanes in a Bourbon Street brawl.
Steve Spurrier disputes Jeremy Shockey’s ‘We got our ass kicked’ quote
The former Florida coach said he was misquoted in the recent 30 for 30, “The U Part Two.”
The South Carolina coach took time out of his Friday press conference to say he was misquoted by the former Miami tight end during ESPN’s 30 for 30 film, “The U Part 2.” Part of the documentary focuses on an alleged bar fight between Florida and Miami in New Orleans the week of the 2001 Sugar Bowl. A boastful group of former Hurricanes tells the cameras that they won the fight.
In the film, Shockey claims that Spurrier approached him on the field after Miami won the game, 37-20, and congratulated him on both “wins.”
“I remember their head coach, Spurrier, coming up to me after the game saying, ‘You guys definitely deserved it. We got our ass beat off the field and on.’”
Spurrier doesn’t remember it that way.
”We’ve all been watching this University of Miami 30 for 30 on ESPN. OK. They won the game. They beat us fair and square. But a Miami player on that team quoted me as saying we got our ass kicked off the field and we got our ass kicked in the game. And I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t be that stupid to ever say a thing like that.
”Now, a scuffle happened sometime earlier in the week on Bourbon Street. Nobody got arrested, nobody got hurt, nobody got suspended for the game. To me, it was history. For some reason, some people, some teams, or whoever, they like to glamorize fighting. Our teams don’t fight. I don’t think I’ve ever had a team in a brawl, not that I can remember. But I certainly didn’t say that.
“I just wanted to say that. I did not say what is attributed to me by a Miami player, to get the record straight.”
Billy Corben, director of “The U Part 2,” questioned Spurrier’s memory when reached for comment by the Palm Beach Post.
“It was 14 years ago. I don’t think he was intentionally lying,” Corben said. “Whether he actually said it to Shockey or not, the quote is certainly Spurrier-esque and 100 percent factually accurate.”
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