Bearing down: Florida's Reidel Anthony got serious about football - and became perhaps the best receiver in the nation

Sporting News, The, Dec 23, 1996 by Matt Hayes

They hang out at one of the gas stations in Belle Glade, Fla., a farming town known for its rich soil and poor inhabitants nestled on the edge of Lake Okeechobee, far from the glittering wealth of the rest of Palm Beach County.

There, lost among the local "high rollers," are the E-Boys. They are Reidel (REE-del) Anthony's past--and the reason he has a bright future.

Anthony, a first-team All-American wide receiver for the University of Florida, grew up hanging out on E Street, where Glades Central High School heroes of days gone by talk about what could've been and. what never really was.

"Skinny Reee" left to play football for the Gators three years ago, and for the first time in three years, he didn't go back to Belle Glade this past summer. The late nights of racing yesterday's heroes from light pole to light pole for $20 were gone. Reidel Anthony got serious about being a big-time college football player this summer. The dash for cash quickly became the race for redemption.

"They'll talk you to death on the avenue," Anthony says of his summers on E Street. "They walk around and talk about you, calling you a dog and stuff, how you ain't as good as they were when they were playing. Then they go back home and go to sleep, and it all starts over the next day.

"I just felt like I needed to stay (in Gainesville) this time. I felt like this could be the year."

Call it a premonition or maturity, Anthony saw something. The offseason of strength and conditioning workouts has helped him develop into perhaps the nation's top wide receiver. Going into third-ranked Florida's rematch with archrival Florida State in the Sugar Bowl, Anthony leads the nation in touchdown catch (18) and leads the Gators in receptions (72) and receiving (1,293). In the SEC championship game victory over Alabama, Anthony set en NCAA record with his 11th consecutive game with a touchdown catch.

"Reidel may be the best receiver in the nation," Gators coach Steve Spurrier says. "He has the speed, he runs routes as good as anyone and he catches nearly anything thrown his way. He has had a sensational season."

Much of that can be traces to the offseason workouts--and Anthony's fear of winding up on E Street one day, talking about the old days and challenging the next high school star to a race.

Anthony lifted weights three times a week over the summer and ran anywhere from two to four days a week. He added 15 pounds to his 6-0, 170-pound frame and actually increased his already blazing speed to a sub-4.4 clocking in the 40-yard dash. He was stronger and faster, and he has been proving it every game. From his key 35-yard touchdown catch on fourth-and-11 on the opening drive of the Gators' huge early-season victory over Tennessee to his back-to-back 11-catch performances against two of the nation's best defenses (FSU and Alabama) the past two games, he has delivered nearly every time he has been called on.

"I can't say enough about Reidel and what he has meant to this team," Fiorida quarterback Danny Wuerffel says. "He's a phenomenal athlete."

Anthony's emergence this season has given Fiorida one of the nation's top receiving duos; he teams with fellow junior Ike Hilliard, who has 47 catches for 900 yards and 10 touchdowns. And for the first time since Spurrier brought his high-tech passing offense to Florida in 1990, the Gators have two receivers who look as if they will make a serious impact in the NFL. "Those two have a bright future ahead of them," Fiorida wide receivers coach Dwayne Dixon says. "They can go as far as they want, and as hard as they work."

Best friends and roommates, Anthony and Hilliard would be two of the top receivers in the 1997 NFL draft if they bypassed their senior seasons. According to many draft experts, Anthony is a likely mid-to late first-round pick, and Hilliard a second-or third-round selection.

Both made big impacts as true freshmen in 1994. Anthony had 30 catches for 615 yards and five touchdowns, Hilliard 22 for 309 yards and four touchdowns. Last season, though, Anthony battled a knee injury and off-field problems for much of the season and appeared lost at times, finishing with 24 catches for 366 yards and three touchdowns. Meanwhile, Hilliard had a breakout year, with 57 catches for 1,008 yards and 15 touchdowns. But Hilliard--the nephew of former LSU All-American running back Dalton Hilliard--has been up-and-down this season; he was suspended for the Georgia game for missing class and hasn't performed up to expectations since.

Both have said they are likely to return for their senior seasons. "People can say what they want," Hilliard says. "I'm not going anywhere."

Neither is Anthony--for now.

"You can't help but think about it if somebody keeps telling you what you're going to do," Anthony says. "I really haven't considered it. I haven't talked about it with my parents (his father is a stockbroker and the mayor of South Bay, a small town four miles from Belle Glade).

"I'll be here, but anything can happen."