Florida football learns how jumping for joy can be hazardous to your health | Whitley

There are injuries that make you turn your head. Then there are injuries that make you scratch your head.

There’s been a lot of that at Florida football practice since defensive end Justus Boone tore an ACL last week. He was at practice when it happened, but he was not exactly practicing.

Boone was running off the field celebrating a big play.

That’s a Double Ouch.

“Anytime you have a non-contact injury, it causes you to ask a lot of questions,” Billy Napier said.

Yeah, like how unlucky, perplexing or dumb is it to suffer a season-ending injury due to overexuberance?

Remember Redskins QB Gus Frerotte head-butting a padded wall and spraining his neck in 1997? Or Arizona kicker Bill Gramatica tearing an ACL after making a field goal.

Edwin Diaz, fresh off signing a $102-million contract with the Mets, blew out a knee while celebrating a Puerto Rico win in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

Ohio State fans certainly remember ace receiver Ted Ginn spraining his foot after returning the opening kickoff for a TD in the 2007 BCS championship game. If Ginn had stayed healthy, Florida might have won by only 20 points instead of 27.

Cody Bellinger’s never been the same since 2020, when he dislocated his shoulder while forearm smashing a Dodger teammate. He vowed to become “a handshake guy” after that.

QB battle: Vote Now! Who is the bigger sports star in Florida: Trevor Lawrence or Tua Tagovailoa

Quick start: Former Florida football QB, Gainesville standout Anthony Richardson named Colts starter

The list goes on, and each incident left us not knowing whether to laugh or to cry. Laughter usually prevails, though not in Boone’s case.

He’s a good kid who was ready for a breakout season, and he doesn’t have a guaranteed $100-million contract in his pocket. Napier was glum delivering the news but said he wouldn’t discourage players from whooping it up like Boone was doing.

“I think passion and emotion are part of the game,” he said. “This is less than 1% (of injuries).”

It’s way less than that. It’s just that each injury feels so senseless.

The only thing I’d do differently is compile a tape of Frerotte, Gramatica and a dozen others who’ve suffered self-inflicted wounds. Show it at the start of training camp every year.

Maybe include a quick testimonial from Bellinger. The message: Plain old handshakes aren’t exciting, but they sure beat crutches…

Stud of the Week: Floyd Mayweather

The retired boxing champ flew 68 families from fire-devastated Maui to Honolulu and is providing them hotel rooms, food and clothing.

Stud II: Golfer Jon Rahm

For his honesty after being asked what he would change about the PGA Tour: “A freakin’ porta-potty on every hole.”

Dud of the Week: The Baltimore Orioles

Who suspended TV announcer Kevin Brown for noting the O’s had lost 15 straight series to the Rays at Tropicana Field. Baltimore later reinstated Brown after he promised to develop laryngitis during every game the Orioles lose the rest of the season.

Dud II: Disney

For totally abandoning its family image and committing ESPN to a $2 billion sportsbook partnership with casino company Penn Entertainment. Get ready for Stephen A. Smith boisterously discussing point spreads of WNBA games…

Speaking of bad bets, a new book by gambler Billy Walters claims that Phil Mickelson bet $1 billion on sports in the past 30 years. The ESPN BET app quickly set the odds of that being true at 2-1…

Quote of the Week, from a UF player who shall remain nameless in order to spare any embarrassment: “As soon as you get your feet in the water, you hit the ground running.”…

Oakland native and former Alabama kick returner Tom Hanks was asked about team owners moving the A’s, Raiders and Warriors out of Oakland. “Damn them all to hell,” he said last week.

Coincidentally, federal employees in San Francisco were advised last week to work remotely because rampant crime has made it too dangerous to come to the office. It seems Hanks got his wish with the Warriors, at least…

Four more Iowa State football players were charged in a sports gambling investigation last week. Defensive lineman Isaiah Lee is accused of betting the Cyclones would lose a game. All the players have entered the transfer portal and will reportedly get jobs as ESPN interns…

Clarification: Tom Hanks did not actually return kicks at Alabama. But even Forrest Gump would have known how dumb it is to bet against your own team…

A study by the American Orthopaedic Association found that it’s been 27 years since a Cowboys fan tore an ACL celebrating a Super Bowl win…

Breaking News: the LIV Tour has offered Jon Rahm $200 million and a personalized porta-potty with a gold-plated toilet that will accompany him on every hole…

Tennessee announced Monday that Peyton Manning will become a professor at its College of Communication and Information. In related news, Iowa State announced Phil Mickelson will become visiting professor at its College of Wagering…

This Just In: Jim McElwain has again denied reports that he tore an ACL jumping a shark while at Florida…

That’s about all the space we have for this week’s Whitley’s Believe It or Not. Till next time, please hit the ground running when you get your feet in the water.

David Whitley is The Gainesville Sun's sports columnist. Contact him at dwhitley@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @DavidEWhitley

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Florida football suffers a self-inflicted wound