College football

FSU QB out for year with disease

Nearly a month after he was found in the road by police, doctors say Wyatt Sexton has Lyme disease.

By BRIAN LANDMAN
Published July 10, 2005

Florida State quarterback Wyatt Sexton, who has been under physicians' care since being found in the middle of the road by police and insisting he was God, has been diagnosed with Lyme disease and will miss the upcoming football season.

"We have been waiting for the examinations to be completed and a report from the doctors before we made a decision," coach Bobby Bowden said in a statement Saturday morning. "It looks like Wyatt will need several months of treatment."

Lyme disease is caused by the bite of a tick carrying a bacterium considered rare in the South. It is curable.

Dr. S. Chandra Swami evaluated Sexton in Pennsylvania on Thursday and confirmed the diagnosis, FSU said. Swami, who according to a Web site espouses "alternative therapy - vitamins, anti-oxidants, physical conditioning" for Lyme, told the family that Sexton should receive intravenous antibiotics.

"Wyatt has active Lyme disease that has resulted in neuropsychiatric and cardiovascular deficits," the general practitioner said in a statement released through FSU. "I have strongly recommended intensive therapy with a goal to obtain an optimal state of health. This should include academics and athletics. He should not be stressed by these two disciplines for now."

A call to Swami's home was not returned.

Although Harvard School of Public Health professor Andrew Spielman, another recognized expert, said he hasn't heard of Lyme disease presenting symptoms as Sexton showed on June 13 when he was taken to a Tallahassee hospital under the state's Baker Act, he said it "can affect many different organs and neurological symptoms are not infrequent."

The strangeness of Sexton's behavior, however, coupled with a previously undisclosed suspension from the team for a violation of an unspecified rule led to rampant speculation of drug use.

That's something his father, Billy Sexton, a longtime FSU assistant coach, tried to counter in his lone other statement saying that his son, an honor student, was being treated for a "medical problem" not for "drug abuse." That did little to slow the rumor mill.

"We appreciate the many expressions of support for our son shown by those in our community, church and the Florida State football family," Billy and his wife Joy said in a joint statement Saturday. "It has been a very difficult time for Wyatt. It has also been hurtful to Wyatt and our family to see some media reports that were simply not true. We expect him to fully recover. In the meantime, we ask that his privacy be respected."

Bowden said the school will seek a sixth year of eligibility for Sexton, 20, who would be a fourth-year junior this coming season.

Sexton, 6-3, 206 pounds, was penciled in as the starter, ahead of redshirt freshmen Xavier Lee and former Land O'Lakes star Drew Weatherford, based on his experience. He started seven games in 2004, completing 139 of 252 passes (55 percent) for 1,661 yards, eight touchdowns and eight interceptions. Lee didn't play and Weatherford took just one snap before suffering a right ankle and Achilles' tendon injury.

"I feel very good about Xavier and Drew because they look like they have what you are looking for in a quarterback prospect," Bowden said. "They don't have the time you would want them to have. That's one thing that isn't in their factor. They will have to speed up the process of getting mentally and physically ready to play. ... We would love to have experience, but I'd rather have talent over experience.

"There is definitely a lot of talent there with those two quarterbacks."

It may come down to a coin toss, he said, as to who starts on Sept. 5 against archnemesis Miami.

Weatherford injured his left foot before spring practice and is coming off surgery. He told the Times that he has improved markedly in recent weeks and will be 100 percent when fall practice begins on Aug. 9.

"I've been running and dropping back and throwing," he said Saturday afternoon. "I feel really good. I'm not running full speed yet, but I'm really close.

"I'm a lot further along than I thought I'd be, to be honest."

While hoping for the best for Sexton, he nonetheless is excited about the opportunity he and Lee have.

"It's happened so fast," he said. "But it's been my dream to play at Florida State ever since I was a kid."

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:35:17]