BATON ROUGE, La. - A long, eventful week for UF safety Tony Joiner ended like almost nothing had changed at all.
Joiner did not start but played nearly the entire game in a 28-24 loss against LSU on Saturday night after state prosecutors dropped his felony burglary charges on Friday.
It was easy to forget about the senior Joiner.
His story was a subplot in the Southeastern Conference showdown between the No. 1 Tigers and the then-No. 9 Gators, perhaps the biggest game in the country thus far.
Dorian Munroe started in place of Joiner, who made an uncharacteristic appearance on UF?s kickoff return team to start the game.
That special teams cameo was likely part of Joiner?s in-house punishment.
BHe will pay a heavy price for his behavior internally for the next four weeks,C Coach Urban Meyer said in a statement released on Friday.
Joiner was arrested early Tuesday morning for trying to drive his girlfriend?s car out of an impound lot before paying a ,76 towing fee.
Meyer was madder about Joiner being out at 4 a.m. on a Tuesday than the incident itself.
BHe knows that the head football coach at Florida that he?s very close with is about as disappointed in him as I?ve ever been,C Meyer said. BNot even the legal part, just Monday night doing that.C
Joiner, a vocal leader of the defense, was stripped of his captaincy.
The Gators sent the remaining captains out to midfield for the opening coin toss - Andre Caldwell, Derrick Harvey and Drew Miller - in an event usually attended by four players. Joiner stood alone on the 45-yard line, orange helmet in his left hand, gazing intently at the scene before him.
Joiner came in on LSU?s second drive with 9:11 remaining in the first quarter and combined with cornerback Wondy Pierre-Louis for a tackle on his first defensive play.
He teamed with freshman free safety Major Wright, who was making his second career start.
It helped that the Tigers did not have star wideout Early Doucet, who missed his fourth-straight game with a groin injury, but the safeties helped hold LSU?s receivers in check.
Quarterback Matt Flynn went 8-of-15 in the first half for 102 yards, but he did not have any completions over 20 yards through 30 minutes, a testament to good deep coverage by Joiner and Wright.
Despite his solid play in the loss, Joiner will be remembered more for Tuesday?s actions at Watson?s Towing than Saturday?s performance at Tiger Stadium.
The owner of the impound lot land, Stan Forron, received more than 200 threatening phone calls, according to Florida Today.
The report stated that Forron received more than a dozen death threats in addition to some bomb threats.
Forron said the incident was a misunderstanding and requested that the charges be dropped.
Joiner was unavailable to the media all week.
He missed practice on Tuesday but returned for Wednesday and Thursday?s practices and traveled with the team to Baton Rouge.
