In the mid-2000s, UF was the epicenter of college football. The team won two national championships over a three-year span but dealt with legal issues and off-the-field scandals.
The new Netflix docuseries “Untold: Swamp Kings” follows Florida’s championship football team under head coach Urban Meyer from 2005 to 2010.
Former Gators Tim Tebow, Dan Mullen and Meyer told the story of the behind-the-scenes events that occurred during this era for the Gators. What’s left unsaid draws the most criticism from students, but the documentary served as a source of inspiration for the 2023 football team.
The team’s legal issues are only covered over a short section of episode three: “Trouble in The Swamp.”
The show mentions when former UF tight end Aaron Hernandez punched a bouncer at The Swamp restaurant after he refused to pay for two drinks. Tebow retells the incident in the show, saying how people used racial slurs toward Hernandez.
“Swamp Kings” leaves out the fact the bouncer was left with a busted eardrum and that Hernandez was arrested eight years later for the first-degree murder of former New England Patriots teammate Odin L. Lloyd. The documentary left out Hernandez’s suicide, his three suicide notes and severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
In 2008, former UF cornerback Jaques Rickerson hit and choked his girlfriend while he used a pillow to muffle her cries for help. He was dismissed from the football team and arrested for domestic battery by strangulation.
His girlfriend ended up with visible injuries on her neck, upper chest and arm, according to the Gainesville Sun. In 2010, the Gainesville Police Department arrested Rickerson on charges of cyberstalking and domestic battery by strangulation a second time. The documentary did not mention Rickerson’s name.
Heisman Trophy winner and former NFL MVP Cam Newton played for the Gators under Meyer from 2007 to 2008. He left the program after being charged with larceny, burglary and obstructing justice for stealing a student’s $1,700 laptop in 2008.
Newton critiqued the show in a TikTok video Aug. 24.
“There was so much that they left out,” Newton said in the video.
He complained that the show downplayed quarterback Chris Leak’s impact and commented on the lack of players represented in the show.
“I really wanted to hear from Percy Harvin, Joe Haden [and] the Pouncey twins,” Newton said.
Justin Murray, an 18-year-old UF engineering freshman, felt the show could have covered more.
“I think they did a good job covering how competitive and tough it is to be a new SEC coach, and how that affected Urban Meyer in his first year there,” Murray said. “I think it should have been better. They should have better portrayed Chris Leak as a quarterback.”
He didn’t realize how hard the players worked for their championships, but he wishes they went more in-depth with people other than Tebow, he said.
Abigail Jatczak, a 21-year-old UF architecture senior, said she enjoyed the documentary at first, but there wasn’t enough substance to keep it interesting.
“The football players didn’t really add much to the story,” she said. “It didn’t really feel like it was worth a whole Netflix TV show.”
While initial reactions mention how much was left unsaid over the series, the documentary inspired current UF football players.
Redshirt senior linebacker Teradja Mitchell said the documentary showed the team how much work they need to put in to be a championship team.
“The documentary has really just been motivating to the whole team,” Mitchell said in an Aug. 26 press conference. “There's a pride putting on that uniform.”
Senior wide receiver Ricky Pearsall also shared how the documentary inspired the current Gators.
“They set that standard,” Pearsall said in an Aug. 26 press conference. “We’re trying to live up to that standard each and every day.”
The four-part series, released Aug. 22, is available to stream on Netflix.
Contact Lacey Rogers at lrogers@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @laceyyrog.
Lacey Rogers is a third-year journalism major and sports reporter for The Alligator. She is a huge Washington Capitals fan and hopes to work for them after she finishes school.
