Valdez Showers races for 64 yards on the opening kickoff against Idaho in 2014. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Showers Stood Out on a Stormy Night at 'The Swamp'
Wednesday, November 14, 2018 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – While he wondered if the game was ever going to start and the hours ticked off the clock, Valdez Showers faced an unusual predicament.
"To be honest, I almost fell asleep,'' Showers said this week from Tampa, where he is currently working in a management training program. "That was the longest delay I've ever been a part of."
Showers was not alone.
This story happened on a dark and stormy night at the Swamp more than four years ago – Aug. 30, 2014, to be exact.
In the season opener of what turned out to be head coach Will Muschamp's final season, the Gators hosted Idaho. Scheduled kickoff time: 7:02 p.m. on ESPNU.
Mother Nature had other plans.
Heavy thunderstorms moved into the area right around kickoff as lightning crackled all around. The game was delayed. During moments when the rain let up, lightning strikes lit up the sky above Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Meanwhile, the teams retreated to their locker rooms as fans headed for cover. As time passed and Showers tried to stay awake, the team's strength staff did its best to keep the players loose and juiced.
Finally, after a 2-hour, 48-minute delay, Idaho kicked off at 9:50 p.m.
Showers was startled when the Gators came back onto the field. He considers it one of the signature moments of his UF career, which lasted from 2011-15.
"That was definitely one of the top [for] solely coming out of the stadium and still seeing the fans there,'' he said. "That was just crazy. They weren't just standing there. They were cheering. Players really take that stuff to heart and that's definitely one of the best memories I have."
Another one soon followed.
On the opening kickoff, Florida Field splashing beneath his every step, Showers caught a short kickoff at Florida's 24-yard line.
ESPNU play-by-play announced Anish Shroff described what happened next.
And we're underway at the Swamp. Valdez Showers, fittingly, fields the short kick. And the kid whose name is Showers, on this rain-soaked field, takes it inside the Idaho 20-yard line, marked out of bounds at the 14-yard line. It figures, Showers to start things off.
Sixty-four yards later, Showers was wide awake by the time two Vandals knocked him out of bounds. However, the longest kickoff return of his career did not end for a couple of more seconds.
"I didn't think I was ever going to stop sliding,'' he said.
Once Showers got to his feet, he was not on the field long. No one was.
Another delay, this one due to another lightning strike within eight miles of the stadium, which by Southeastern Conference rules dictates at least a 30-minute delay.
Showers saw it coming. Literally.
"The first thing I remember is on kickoff return, I looked up and it was lightning,'' he said. "I saw a lightning strike not too far off. It felt like it was right over me."
More than 45 minutes later, officials declared the game a no contest. In the record books, Showers' kickoff return never happened in a game delayed more than 3 hours and 30 minutes due to inclement weather. The teams meet again – officially, for the first time – on Saturday when the Vandals visit on Senior Day.
Fortunately, Showers can one day show his kids that it really did happen thanks to social media and YouTube.
"We were real pissed off about that game,'' fifth-year senior defensive tackle Khairi Clark, one of only six players still on Florida's roster from the 2014 season, said this week. "I felt like we should have that game to play."
The Gators ended the 2013 season on a seven-game losing streak and were eager to get back on the field. They unloaded their frustration the following week in a 65-0 victory over Eastern Michigan, then coached by current Gators safeties coach Ron English.
Showers spent one more season with the Gators, finishing his career in 2015 as the Gators won the SEC East. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Redskins in 2016 and was cut in training camp. The same scenario played out in 2017 with the Indianapolis Colts.
But he'll always have that kickoff return on a rainy night in Gainesville.
"On top of that, the weather and playing in the conditions we did [makes it memorable],'' he said. "Everything just came together, and my last name being Showers and everyone taking that out of proportion. I definitely enjoy watching the clip."
"To be honest, I almost fell asleep,'' Showers said this week from Tampa, where he is currently working in a management training program. "That was the longest delay I've ever been a part of."
Showers was not alone.
This story happened on a dark and stormy night at the Swamp more than four years ago – Aug. 30, 2014, to be exact.
In the season opener of what turned out to be head coach Will Muschamp's final season, the Gators hosted Idaho. Scheduled kickoff time: 7:02 p.m. on ESPNU.
Mother Nature had other plans.
Good shot of why all delays...RT @Andy_Staples: Whoa. RT @OurTwoBits: Yikes! (H/T @pbpsports) pic.twitter.com/HhEYKTLoPf
— Scott Carter (@GatorsScott) August 31, 2014
Heavy thunderstorms moved into the area right around kickoff as lightning crackled all around. The game was delayed. During moments when the rain let up, lightning strikes lit up the sky above Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.
Meanwhile, the teams retreated to their locker rooms as fans headed for cover. As time passed and Showers tried to stay awake, the team's strength staff did its best to keep the players loose and juiced.
Finally, after a 2-hour, 48-minute delay, Idaho kicked off at 9:50 p.m.
Showers was startled when the Gators came back onto the field. He considers it one of the signature moments of his UF career, which lasted from 2011-15.
"That was definitely one of the top [for] solely coming out of the stadium and still seeing the fans there,'' he said. "That was just crazy. They weren't just standing there. They were cheering. Players really take that stuff to heart and that's definitely one of the best memories I have."
Another one soon followed.
On the opening kickoff, Florida Field splashing beneath his every step, Showers caught a short kickoff at Florida's 24-yard line.
ESPNU play-by-play announced Anish Shroff described what happened next.
And we're underway at the Swamp. Valdez Showers, fittingly, fields the short kick. And the kid whose name is Showers, on this rain-soaked field, takes it inside the Idaho 20-yard line, marked out of bounds at the 14-yard line. It figures, Showers to start things off.
Sixty-four yards later, Showers was wide awake by the time two Vandals knocked him out of bounds. However, the longest kickoff return of his career did not end for a couple of more seconds.
"I didn't think I was ever going to stop sliding,'' he said.
Once Showers got to his feet, he was not on the field long. No one was.
Another delay, this one due to another lightning strike within eight miles of the stadium, which by Southeastern Conference rules dictates at least a 30-minute delay.
Showers saw it coming. Literally.
"The first thing I remember is on kickoff return, I looked up and it was lightning,'' he said. "I saw a lightning strike not too far off. It felt like it was right over me."
More than 45 minutes later, officials declared the game a no contest. In the record books, Showers' kickoff return never happened in a game delayed more than 3 hours and 30 minutes due to inclement weather. The teams meet again – officially, for the first time – on Saturday when the Vandals visit on Senior Day.
Fortunately, Showers can one day show his kids that it really did happen thanks to social media and YouTube.
"We were real pissed off about that game,'' fifth-year senior defensive tackle Khairi Clark, one of only six players still on Florida's roster from the 2014 season, said this week. "I felt like we should have that game to play."
The Gators ended the 2013 season on a seven-game losing streak and were eager to get back on the field. They unloaded their frustration the following week in a 65-0 victory over Eastern Michigan, then coached by current Gators safeties coach Ron English.
Showers spent one more season with the Gators, finishing his career in 2015 as the Gators won the SEC East. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Redskins in 2016 and was cut in training camp. The same scenario played out in 2017 with the Indianapolis Colts.
But he'll always have that kickoff return on a rainy night in Gainesville.
"On top of that, the weather and playing in the conditions we did [makes it memorable],'' he said. "Everything just came together, and my last name being Showers and everyone taking that out of proportion. I definitely enjoy watching the clip."
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