The college football regular season has wrapped up -- save for the Army-Navy game -- which means it’s decision time when it comes to declaring for the 2018 NFL Draft for the vast number of players who are thinking about the next level.
While we’ve seen several announcements already from players who are opting to turn pro and skip their bowl game, a new report surfaced on Thursday that Florida’s biggest offensive weapon Antonio Callaway would not be returning to Gainesville to play for new coach Dan Mullen.
#Gators WO Antonio Calloway, who was suspended and did not play in the '17 season, has signed w/Mel Bratton of @MB5sports & will enter the '18 #NFLDraft.
— Neil Stratton (@InsideTheLeague) December 7, 2017
Callaway making the jump to the NFL at this point is not exactly surprising to anybody who has followed his story the past year. The 5-foot-10, 190 pound junior missed the entire 2017 season for the Gators after being suspended for this involvement in a felony fraud case and pleaded no contest to a drug charge in the summer. As if that wasn’t enough, he was also reportedly at the center of a pair of Title IX investigations.
Even though there were plenty of concerns off the field with Callaway, there’s no denying that he was one of the few explosive playmakers for the team under Jim McElwain. He started 24 games as a freshman and sophomore with Florida and averaged 15.7 yards a catch with the team, closing his career out with 1,399 yards and 11 total touchdowns. While it was doubtful he was going to be back with the team in 2018, signing with an agent cements his sayonara from college football.