Florida Gators suspend Antonio Callaway, six other players for Michigan opener

The Florida Gators will be heading into their season-opening matchup with the Michigan Wolverines down Antonio Callaway and six other players

The two-time defending SEC East Champion Florida Gators start up the 2017 college football season on Sept. 2 in Arlington, Texas with a tough opener to begin the campaign, that game being against Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines. However, they’ll be going into this important contest without one of their best offensive weapons and six other players.

As first reported by Sports Illustrated, wide receiver Antonio Callaway and six other players will not be making the trip to Texas, as they have been suspended for what the school is calling a violation of team rules. However, of course, there are some rumblings out there as to exactly what rules were broken by the players.

Florida head coach Jim McElwain issued a brief statement on the matter.

“We have a small group of players that have made some choices that are extremely disappointing,” McElwain said in a press release. “Action has been taken – they have missed some practice and will miss the Michigan game. We will use this as a learning opportunity and we will have some players step up as we move forward.”

In addition to Callaway not being available for the game against the Wolverines on the first big Saturday of the season, the rest of the players are junior defensive end Keivonnis Davis, sophomore defensive lineman Richerd Desir-Jones,freshman linebacker James Houston, freshman linebacker Ventrell Miller, redshirt freshman defensive lineman Jordan Smith and freshman offensive lineman Kadeem Telfort.

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Without a doubt, though, the biggest name on this list is Callaway, maybe the best option the Gators have on the offensive side of the ball. The Miami native has led the team in receiving each of the past two seasons, and last year finished with 721 yards on 54 catches with three touchdowns. He’s also a threat on special teams as well.

Just an unfortunate decision made by a group of players on one of the favorites in the SEC East once again, and now they’re unavailable for one of the biggest games of the entire season for the Gators.