Steve Spurrier ... Gracious?

Steve Spurrier has been accused of lots of things during his almost 20 years in the Southeastern Conference. What he has rarely been accused of is graciousness to Phillip Fulmer or Tennessee. But for the man who put the U-T in Citrus, he viewed Fulmer's glass as remarkably half-full:

"Some people will say it's sad that he couldn't go out on his own terms but if you retire, you don't hit the lottery," Spurrier said. "You could say he hit the lottery after getting that contract extension. Now he gets the money and he doesn't have to go through any more crap, everybody after him."

Spurrier ought to know, too. He took the Washington Redskins skrilla and ran down to the golf course. And with a physique like Phil's, perhaps a golfing career could be the next step.