Graham Mertz INJURED vs Missouri but EARNS Respect from all Gators | Billy Napier

Intro last night was brutal and I'm not even talking about the loss in fact I'm not even going to break the game down in this video that's going to come out later on today I just want to take some time to talk about Graham Merz in this video obviously you guys know he went down with what appears to be a season ending injury on one of the toughest runs I've seen a quarterback make since I was in college and another number 15 was running the ball at quarterback Graham Merz is such a competitor that one play was pretty much a microcosm of who Graham Merz has been for the Gators he does what needs to be done to win games to put his team in position to win games there is no quit in Graham Merz at all his toughness is unmatched I can't even honestly it probably is Tim TBO I can't think of a quarterback that has been as tough as grah Merz in the orange and blue in a very long time he took a beating this entire Graham Mertz season it is no surprise to any of you when I say Florida's offensive line has been garbage this year and part of that is that there's been injuries and it's just kind of had to be a different set of five starting all year right each game looked a little bit different I also think that some of the additions that we thought really were going to have massive impacts this season just haven't turned out the way that we were hoping that they would but this offensive line has not been great for Graham Merz and he has stood back there and taken a beating all season long I wish he didn't have to have taken those hits but he did and he got up every single time and kept fighting it is hard to describe how tough Graham Merz is even last night prior to going out the amount of hits that he took there was a there was a shot to his knee that would have had some people carried off the field he just got right back up and continued to do his job for me when I see players willing to leave it all out on the field and just give their all physically mentally emotionally to the University of Florida it does something for me you know Florida football is part of who my Legacy family is right my husband played for the Gators my brother played for the Gators my dad played for the Gators my grandfather played for the Gators multiple of the people in our wedding played for the Gators Graham Merz battled for that Legacy right the legacy of all the former players that came before him he takes the responsibility of the logo on the front of the Jersey so seriously and I think that's something that all of our former players tip their hat too I just he's been the rock for this team he wants to win he has that dog in him and I think part of that comes from the chip that's probably on his shoulder from the fact that nobody thought he was a good take out of the portal everybody thought Billy napy got just what was left because he missed on the other quarterbacks that were more highly rated in the portal and at the time Napier tried to say I've done my due diligence I've done my homework Graham Merz is the best option in the portal he started the most games he has the attributes that I'm looking for and many of us thought that was coach speak right you have to say something positive about the guy you pluck out of the portal because you're the one that chose to pick him even if he was the last guy picked for Dodgeball so to speak but Napier ended up being Overachieved right his eval was spot on grah Merz has So overachieved based on the information we had about him coming into this season based on the national media opinion of how he was going to do on the University of Florida at the University of Florida and honestly based on what fans of other teams thought he was going to do too there was a point in time this summer where all of our Rivals teased us about who we were taking out of the portal don't think gr Merz didn't see all of that stuff don't think he didn't wear that chip on his shoulder in reality it's not that he was the last man there for Billy to pick it's that it's the first man there that Billy wanted because he knew the talent that gr Merz had and the heart and the fight that he was going to bring to this team he's been crushing it this season his stats have been really really good he's made plays when he's had to and most importantly he's minimized mistakes shattered a record of complete passes without an interception at the University of Florida this season he's put up top 10 quarterback stats across college football this season with a hodge podge offensive line and a defense that continuously puts him in a bad spot honestly he's been the most valuable member not only of this team but I think you can argue he's one of the most valuable men in college football in terms of impact on his team I'm really sad to see his season end like this but like I said earlier I do think that play essentially is a microcosm of who Graham Merz is and what his toughness looks like you watch him put the team on his back a guy certainly not known for a speed runs through threw two Defenders who by the way both were laying on the ground afterwards both had to come off the field because they were both hurt by this quarterback gets the first down makes the play this is Graham Merz in a nutshell that play is who he is and what he brings to this team and then after that injury he goes to the locker room he gets his x-rays he comes back out and he's supporting his team he's not crying he's not worried about himself he's not moping sitting on the bench all of those things would have been explainable reactions acceptable reactions to what we think is probably a season ending injury but that's not what we saw from Graham MZ we saw Graham Merz standing up there on the sidelines rooting on Ma Brown cheering on his teammates he gave Max Brown confidence he coached him from the side lines he cheered on his friend he cheered on the rest of his teammates that is who Graham Merz is he's a leader not only does he have guts and grit and Leadership work ethic and fight but he is a leader of all of the other guys on this team his intangibles are what didn't show up on those eals those are what those other coaches didn't see and Billy Napier did see the type of man that Graham Merz is the type of leader that Graham Mertz was capable of being his refusal to quit all of those intangibles are what makes Graham Merz such a good football player even Napier who I get frustrated with because he doesn't show enough emotions at times was a little emotional in the postgame press conference and I can understand why my heart goes out to grah Merz I appreciate all that he has done for Gator nation and the way that he tuned out the noise he fought really hard and he kicked ass this season