by Samuel Nichols, Contributing Writer
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have it! After a month of half-baked and shortened documentaries about a variety of sports topics, we have witnessed a truly good entry in this year’s Untold season on Netflix. Following the 2000s University of Florida football team through a period of championship runs and Heisman trophies, there was drama and controversy every season to contend with. At the center of the team was head coach Urban Meyer and star quarterback Tim Tebow. While there are a smattering of other players, coaches, and expert analysts who make appearances, these two are the driving force behind the story we’re told.
Now, cat out of the bag, this episode of Untold is infinitely better than the rest of this season’s episodes. While I was a fan of Tebow growing up, and have recently decided to start paying attention to college football again, it’s not the topic that makes Swamp Kings stand out. Johnny Manziel and the steroid boom of the 1990s are both equally interesting topics. But the depth to which the documentary miniseries goes to show what was happening in and around the Florida Gators football program in this time period is terrific. When you talk about a period of four to five years, you need to go in depth so the full story is understood. And Swamp Kings goes from humbler beginnings to stupendous endings. We see everything from the first year of mediocrity to the glory of multiple national championships. There is certainly a lot of controversy and drama between that is unfolded as well, such as player scandals involving crimes and coverups from the university. But we also get to see the personal side of players, too. Hearing Tebow talk about the love and respect he has for coaches and teammates greatly helps us understand how close these teams were. If you’ve been following my writing about this season of Untold on Netflix, you know that my biggest criticism has been how little depth we get on each story. So being able to spend three and a half hours with this team is terrific for me.
Now, I do have some criticisms. Personally, I do not know how much Meyer can be trusted as a narrator here. It’s obvious that he’s had an enormous amount of success as a head coach, but there have been controversies around him too. So when he talks about wanting to hold his players to a higher standard, but keeps guys who are involved in crimes on the team, it sounds like he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth. When you add in his own issues that got him canned from Ohio State years later, and the Jacksonville Jaguars even later, it looks even worse. But that is more a criticism of the man himself than this story.
On the opposite side of things to Meyer, I found Tebow’s time on camera to be very informative. Perhaps it’s his time as a motivational speaker or broadcaster that has helped him, but he is very elegant and well-spoken. His perspective was always interesting to me. Sure, I could have been nostalgic for how beloved this guy was back when I was hitting puberty, but I honestly thought he was terrific.
While I get there was a lot of scandal to cover for this team, and plenty of stuff that happened off the field that needed to be discussed, it is almost as if the football games themselves are put on the back burner sometimes. Yes, there are important games they talked about, like the 2007 national championship game or the 2008 SEC title game, but at most those segments are five minutes. Sure, highlights and stats are available, but I like seeing plays happen in real time, and hearing from the stars and coaches about what they saw happen. There are a few games that are discussed, but not nearly as many as I would have liked to see.
Ultimately, though, I think this documentary is hindered by how influenced it is by Meyer. The man gets his spin on everything. Players? He has an opinion. Losses? He did his best. Controversy? It wasn’t on him. There’s no real accountability for the guy, and no one to push back on him about the mistakes he made. Perhaps he should have had less say on what happened, and perhaps excluding him would have been the best thing to do.
Rating: Liked It
Untold: Swamp Kings is currently streaming on Netflix
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