When news of the shooting death of Reche Caldwell came across my Twitter timeline Sunday morning, I had a little bit of trouble catching my breath.
I was 17 years old in 1999 when I matriculated to the University of Florida. That first fall was filled with all the things a freshman year is filled with: learning where each building is, playing pool at the Reitz, learning how to procure beer, and football.
Back in those days – when students actually went to every game – you had to call a number over and over, hoping you would eventually get past the busy signal to get tickets. I was unable to get tickets that year, which meant that me and my dorm-mates would walk the campus, hanging out with various alumni during their tailgates and then head back to the dorm to watch the games right before kickoff.
I have to admit that I didn’t think I was going to end up a huge football fan at the beginning. I had grown up in Indiana – where basketball is king – and the SEC way of life had yet to really hit me.
Earnest Graham was my favorite player on those ’99-’02 teams. That was because I had played against him in high school and knew what an incredible athlete he was.
But it was the Fun ‘N Gun that really drew me all the way in.
Obviously, that offense was designed by Steve Spurrier and he had success well before Reche Caldwell and Jabar Gaffney. But those were my guys, with Caldwell playing as a redshirt freshman in 1999 and breaking out with 49 catches in 2000 and Gaffney hitting the ground running immediately with 71 catches in 2000.
That 2000 season coincided with Rex Grossman taking over the reins at QB from Jesse Palmer and gave us a little taste of what was to come in 2001.
The 2001 season was a roller coaster ride, for a lot of different reasons.
Caldwell and Gaffney were unbelievable once again, with Caldwell pulling in 65 catches (16.9 yards per catch average) and Gaffney pulling in 67 (17.8). Grossman finished a controversial second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Nebraska QB Eric Crouch.
His purest performance came against LSU that season, and Gaffney and Caldwell were central to everything that went on in that game.
Of course, that season also included the 23-20 loss to Auburn and the 34-32 loss to Tennessee in the game delayed due to the 9-11 terrorist attacks. You couldn’t blame Caldwell for either of those losses though. He caught 9 passes for 128 yards against the Tigers and 8 for 115 yards against the Vols.
We took those teams for granted while I was there. I know this because Ron Zook came to campus in 2002 and the football team immediately started struggling in a way it never had under Spurrier.
We should have seen it coming in 2002. With Gaffney and Caldwell both getting drafted in the second round of the 2002 NFL Draft, only Taylor Jacobs was left for Grossman to throw the ball to. We just saw this recently with Georgia, where Jake Fromm lost all of his weapons at wide receiver, had a new offensive coordinator, and his play took a major step back.
The same thing happened to Grossman, a testament to the abilities of Gaffney and Caldwell, not just to the playcalling of the HBC.
Caldwell wasn’t able to reach the same heights in the NFL.
He played six seasons, catching 152 balls. His best season was 2006, when he caught 61 balls for the New England Patriots. But that season was marred by two drops in the AFC Championship Game against the Colts that potentially cost the Patriots another Super Bowl appearance.
Caldwell’s brother – Andre “Bubba” Caldwell – told ESPN back in 2016 regarding the drops: “He heard all the jokes. And it broke his heart.”
That article by David Fleming documents Caldwell’s fall from grace, but it documents someone who is almost lovable because he was just so bad at being a criminal.
When agents raided his illegal gambling ring, there’s a fantastic story of his exasperation with the cops using a tank and flash grenades when he would have just let them in. And he got in further trouble for Googling how to order MDMA to procure it from China.
I’m not excusing his behavior. I’m just saying that he comes off as a good guy who made some bad choices. I suspect some of those choices have something to do with his murder.
But to me, he’s always going to be one of the key players who turned me into a Florida Gators fan. This website doesn’t exist without Reche Caldwell because I’m not as interested in the program without him and those teams roping me into the culture that is Gator Football.
Like most of the country, I have been enthralled by the “Last Dance” Michael Jordan documentary. But the most interesting part to me was the look on Jordan’s teammates’ faces when they were asked whether he was a good teammate. They knew the answer should be “yes” because of all the notoriety and success that he brought them, but some of them couldn’t bring themselves to say it.
It made me really question whether all of the success that Jordan had was worth it. Everyone respects him as the best player ever, but do any of his teammates truly love him?
Reading the tributes pouring in on Sunday, that isn’t even a question with Caldwell. They all spoke of how much they loved him, how he was always smiling, how he was always telling stories and what a great teammate he was.
So maybe he didn’t win a National Championship with Florida. And maybe he missed out on the Super Bowl with the Patriots.
But he will always have an enduring place in my heart – and the hearts of his teammates – as a Gator. Thanks for the memories, Reche.
RIP.