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By ANTONYA ENGLISH, Times Staff WriterA bad knee hasn't dimmed the talent of Florida freshman LB Channing Crowder.
GAINESVILLE - Channing Crowder still was groggy from the anesthesia, his knee bandaged and swollen from the arthroscopic surgery to repair ligaments in his right knee.
He should have been in pain. He should have needed crutches.
So what did he do? The Florida freshman linebacker got up and went for a walk, never felt a thing, didn't lift a crutch.
"When I woke up from surgery, I walked over to the nurse and asked her where the bathroom was," Crowder said. "They said I'm either crazy or too dumb to know I was supposed to be hesitant on my knee."
Take your pick. It is all up for debate.
What is not debatable is Crowder's impact on the defense this season.
Eleven days after his fourth surgery to repair damage to his knee, Crowder stunned the Florida doctors, coaching staff and teammates by returning to the field Saturday at LSU. He entered on Florida's second series and played almost every down.
His emotional return sparked the defense to a shutout of then-No. 6 LSU and prompted defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to declare the Gators are a different team with the Atlanta native in the lineup.
"With Channing, we'd have won (the Ole Miss game)," Strong said. "Guaranteed."
Crowder's no-fear approach to the game, combined with outstanding athletic ability, has earned accolades from opponents and respect among teammates often reserved for someone with more experience.
When Crowder joins the starting lineup Saturday against Arkansas, he will make Florida history by becoming the first true freshman to make five starts at linebacker. Arkansas coach Houston Nutt said Crowder "is young, but doesn't play young."
His teammates claim to be in awe.
"He just has raw ability," senior linebacker Matt Farrior said.
"I'm a senior and I look up to him," safety Daryl Dixon said.
Florida coach Ron Zook understands why.
"I think both Channing and Chris (freshman quarterback Leak) have done things the right way," Zook said. "These seniors are a bunch of winners and they want the best players on the field. Channing understands this is the seniors' team and there is a great deal of respect there. They have done things the right way in terms of just coming in and playing rather than talking about it."
At 19, Crowder is a complex individual. He jokes about being "too dumb" to fear injury, but was a member of the National Honor Society and plans to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine. In April, he got into a fight outside a Gainesville nightclub, which led to misdemeanor charges and probation. He loves hunting wild hogs with pit bulls that he and teammate Brian Crum raise. He says he has helped kill an 8-foot alligator. He watches countless hours of film to perfect his game.
"The Arkansas-Auburn game, I'll watch that probably twice a night until (Saturday's) game," Crowder said. "And we have two hours of meetings every day."
He is high-strung, laughs a lot and most of all loves football. It is an energy teammates feed off of.
"I think I add a little something to the defense, a little excitement," Crowder said. "I try to get everybody excited and let them feed off me so they can and try to bring something to the defense so we can win."
He has brought more than a little something. Crowder has 36 tackles (24 solo) to rank fourth on the team despite missing the Ole Miss game because of his surgery. It was Crowder who tied up 300-pound Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen in the closing moments of the game, causing Lorenzen to throw an interception to set up Florida's winning touchdown.
"He's an unbelievable player," Strong said.
Crowder is the son of Randy Crowder, a former All-American defensive tackle at Penn State and a player in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins (1974-76) and Tampa Bay Bucs (1978-80). Crowder insists he already is better than the father; it is Washington's LaVar Arrington whom Crowder most models his game after.
"I watch every game and I had No. 11 in high school because of him," Crowder said. "I love how he plays and I wanted to play like him. But I think I'm my own idol now. I'm just trying to play and be the best I can."
His next test? Arkansas' Cedric Cobbs, the SEC's leading rusher. In typical Crowder style, he says bring him on.
"If you feel like you're good, then you want to play against the best," he said. "Cobbs is a pretty good guy and a pretty good back and I want to play against him. But I'm not scared of any man until they have to crank him up with a key in the morning."