Florida DE Zachary Carter has made his decision on playing this fall
By Keith Farner
Published:
Florida reportedly had a handful of players considering opting out of the season, but one of the defensive linemen has sent out a message about his plans for the season.
DE Zachary Carter revealed that the COVID-19 pandemic has hit especially close to home, as his father battled the coronavirus, and a long-time friend of his mother passed away from it.
“Looking forward to ballin out in honor of all COVID-19 fighters and victims,” Carter tweeted. “Go Gators!”
Carter last season appeared in all 13 games and made starts against Vanderbilt and Missouri. He made 31 tackles and finished tied for second on the team with career-highs in sacks (4.5) and tackles-for-loss (7.0). He made 2 tackles for a loss against Florida State, and had a forced fumble in the South Carolina win.
Coach Dan Mullen has not announced any players who plan to opt out, but there were unconfirmed reports that several players for Florida, receivers Kadarius Toney, Trevon Grimes and Jacob Copeland and Carter would skip the season.
Earlier this week, Mullen told reporters on a Zoom call, “We had a couple guys not practice today, but we’ll see how that goes moving forward for us. But, you know, I wouldn’t be surprised if you have guys opt out. I’m going to support them fully. Really wouldn’t be surprised if we had coaches opt out, to be honest with you. Coaches are at such high risk because of the age group that they’re in.”
Stay prayed up🙏🏾 Lets get to this money though ‼️🤞🏾 pic.twitter.com/iqmAgQSkRw
— Zachary L Carter (@_ZachAttacks) August 20, 2020
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
