Star Defensive Back Scolds Gators for Promiscuity With Other Defensive Backs

By Thomas Francis Wed., Oct. 7 2009 at 11:29 AM

Categories: Palm Beach, Sports

Flickr: Go Gators

Coach, I thought we made a commitment to each other.

As the state's best defensive back, Matt Elam from Palm Beach Gardens Dwyer must have assumed that when he gave his verbal commitment to the University of Florida, the defending champs would stop courting other defensive backs.

But Elam surely knows that four DBs are on the field at once -- sometimes five and six. So for the Gators, monogamy is not an option.

Still, it's been unnerving for him to watch how wantonly Florida coaches have pursued other defensive backs -- it's almost as if they're unsure he's going to be the All-American he expects to be. A player of Elam's caliber doesn't need to put up with that; and the University of Tennessee doesn't seem to have such misgivings. This past weekend Elam visited the campus. The Orlando Sentinel caught up with him afterward:

Elam said he doesn't have plans to officially pull his commitment from the Gators, but said the large number of defensive backs entering the program does give him some pause since he wants to play early. "I don't understand why they're doing that," Elam said. "That's really pushing me away."

Here's Elam's highlight reel, scored by a ballad that describes the passion and turbulence of the teenager's affair with his team-to-be.