A few seconds earlier, there was a roof.
After crashing through a brick fence, a tree fell through the room where Tyler Jordan’s family was sitting during Hurricane Matthew.
The UF offensive lineman was supposed to play a football game the next day. But after hearing how his family narrowly escaped disaster, he understood why there wouldn’t be one.
“Nineteen people died; 2.5 million were affected,” Jordan said Monday. “Some of these people are saying that we dodged the game. That’s not true.”
On Thursday, the Southeastern Conference postponed UF’s annual game against Louisiana State University because of Hurricane Matthew. No rescheduled date has been announced, and both teams have been working with the league to find a solution.
And while UF coach Jim McElwain said the school is doing everything it can to ensure the game will be played, UF saw no shortage of backlash over the weekend.
National media members criticized the decision on Twitter, and UF football players vented their anger at Fox Sports writer Clay Travis, who said Friday that the 4-1 Gators were scared to play the 3-2 Tigers.
“I thought it was extremely unprofessional, to be honest,” quarterback Luke Del Rio said. “That’s all I’m gonna say about that.”
Coach Jim McElwain had stronger words.
“Obviously, they don’t know me. They don’t know the Florida Gators. They don’t know our players,” McElwain said. “How anybody could even think that way is beyond me.”
Fans of both UF and LSU questioned the decision on social media after hearing from LSU’s Athletic Director Joe Alleva. After the decision to postpone the game was made Thursday, Alleva said LSU was prepared to play under any scenario.
“We were willing to go there,” Alleva said. “We had a plane. We had buses. We were willing to go. That’s my point I want to make here. We would have done anything to play the game.”
But with so many of UF’s players affected, McElwain said UF made the right decision not to play.
Jordan said 52 UF football players had families living in areas under severe weather warnings, and many of them were worried throughout the storm.
“You could definitely tell guys were bothered that they weren’t home with their families,” center Cameron Dillard said. “Lives are more important than this game. It’s a game.”
McElwain said UF invited players’ families to stay in Gainesville shelters instead of their homes. Some accepted the invitation, and almost all have returned back to their houses now that power has been restored.
“The look on quite a few people’s faces that had been through things before, knowing what their families were about ready to go through,” McElwain said. “It was hard. It was hard on everybody.”
Coach Jim McElwain speaks during a press conference on Aug. 3.
