Billy Napier addresses Brendan Bett spitting ejection, potential discipline vs. LSU

There were two more spitting incidents than anyone expected to see on a football field this past weekend, with Florida DL Brendan Bett doing so on the college level at an opposing player in their loss to USF on Saturday. Now, Billy Napier has addressed the incident and shared how the Gators will be punishing him this week for that action.

Napier spoke about Bett’s spitting incident during his press conference on Monday. He said that the transfer on their defensive line has expressed his remorse for what he did, and mostly in how he chose to represent everyone involved with the program in doing it.

“Yeah, Brendan? We spent quite a bit of time with him yesterday. Look, you know, I think that the kid is remorseful. You know, I think he feels as if he let the team down. I do think he has, you know – in general, it was out of character for him and he made a mistake and he compromised the team. He made a selfish decision,” Napier said. “He misrepresented our fans and our alumni, the university. And, when a young man comes into your office and that’s his immediate concern, is how he didn’t represent this place the right way? I think that’s a good indication of his attitude towards it.”

The final three minutes could not have gone much worse for No. 13 Florida in the 18-16 upset loss to USF. After going three-and-out on their own drive that only took 27 seconds off the clock, the Gators allowed an eight-play, 87-yard drive to set up the game-winning field goal for the Bulls. Three plays made up most of that drive with a 29-yard completion by QB Byrum Brown after a 13-yard penalty for pass interference and then this 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct for the spit by Bett.

Bett transferred to Florida in the spring after spending two seasons at Baylor. He has appeared in both of their games so far with 52 snaps played, on defense and on special teams, where he has posted eight tackles, five of which game this past weekend against USF.

So, as for his punishment, Napier says that, on top of his late ejection from the game this weekend, Bett will face the internal punishments one would expect, with him also set to make multiple apologies to his team, publicly, and to the opposing player he did it too in IOL Cole Skinner for USF. As for a suspension for this weekend’s game at No. 3 LSU, though, the Gators have not made a choice on that at this time.

“So, there’ll be some internal discipline. Obviously, he was suspended (against South Florida). And, you know, he’ll have an opportunity today to apologize to the team and he’s going to apologize publicly. We’re even having him reach out to the young man on the other team,” said Napier. “So, no stone unturned here in terms of maximizing this for him to learn, and also, I think, for our other players to see how to take ownership of a mistake, you know, and go about this the right way.”

“We haven’t made that decision yet,” Napier said of Bett’s status for their next game in Baton Rouge.

Bett has much to make up for after choosing to spit on another player on the field. Florida is ensuring he’ll do exactly that, with his status unknown still as of now for their conference opener over in Death Valley.