mistaken identity

[radbag]

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver David Nelson was asked Monday if anyone ever told him he looked like Tiger Woods.

"I get that all the time," Nelson said. "(Sophomore linebacker) Brandon Spikes just calls me Tiger Woods now. He doesn't even call me my name anymore. I don't even think he knows my name anymore."

A Woods comparison is not far off but Nelson had a cruise ship convinced this spring he was former Florida quarterback Chris Leak. It happened on spring break when Nelson and some friends went on a cruise to Key West and Belize, a few months after Leak helped lead Florida to the national championship.

Someone approached the disc jockey on stage to tell him Leak was on board. So the D.J. stopped what he was doing, got everyone's attention and told the dining room Leak was on the ship. A spotlight went to directly to Nelson's table.

"He made a huge announcement to the cruise ship saying, 'We have the national champion MVP Chris Leak on board,'" Nelson said. "A spotlight just found me. I was sitting at my table and had no idea what was going on. I looked up and my eyes were huge. Everyone just gave a standing ovation.

"At this point I can't be like, 'No, I'm not,' so I just stood up and waved and sat back down. For the rest of the trip I just had to try and play damage control. People would come up wanting autographs. With little kids I didn't know whether to say I'm not Chris Leak and embarrass the kid, or just sign it and tell Chris later."

Nelson didn't sign Leak's name, he said he scribbled the autograph and didn't write a number. He also told Leak of the incident and Leak found it funny. For Nelson, it was a good laugh until more people wanted pictures and autographs. For a college kid trying to get away for a few days it turned into a hectic scene.

"Word spread fast," Nelson said. "Not everybody eats at the same time. As soon as I left, there was a waiting line of people that had their cell phones saying that Chris Leak was on board. It was amazing because not everyone on that ship was from Florida.

"There were a lot of Arizona people and California people. There were people from everywhere because it was spring break. Most of them were college students, so it was amazing to see how many of them knew football and how famous he really is nationwide."

The ruse continued and Nelson got to meet the ship's captain. He said people offered to buy him things. Quickly, he became the ship's celebrity.

"I was just the most popular person on the ship," he said. "Everywhere I went people were taking pictures of me or shaking my hand and telling me good job on the season."

Toward the end of the cruise, Nelson had to come clean. He wasn't Leak. He knew him. Played on the same team. Was a national champion. But he was not the star quarterback. So he went to the D.J. and told him to make an announcement that it wasn't true.

Nelson meant no harm by the episode. He didn't intend to pull the trick. He was basically as surprised as everyone else. But when it happened, things took off so fast, he had to play along and he got caught up in the attention for a few days. Some people – Florida fans who knew the subtle physical differences between Leak and Nelson – got upset about the whole thing, Nelson said.

"I wasn't trying to do anything or hinder Chris' reputation," he said. "I wasn't trying to act like I was Chris Leak by any means, but there was just so much going on that I was overwhelmed by it and I didn't know what to do."

Coach Urban Meyer was asked Monday if he heard about it. Meyer had not.

"I missed that one," Meyer said. "I was up trying to game plan third-and-6. Was he signing Chris Leak autographs?"

The reporter responded people came up to Nelson asking for what they believed to be Leak's autograph and that Nelson got to meet the ship's captain.

"Is that right?" Meyer asked. "Good for him."

Nelson was told by a reporter someone should have informed the D.J. that Nelson was actually sophomore quarterback Tim Tebow, a cult hero in Gainesville who has become one of the hottest names in college football. That would have been harder to pull off since Tebow and Nelson look nothing alike. Still, it sounded like a good idea to Nelson.

"I may have been able to drive the boat," he said. "They may have thrown the captain off and let me drive it."

[G8Rpmc]

Great story! Cute kid.....Now, let's see him catch the ball (which I'm sure he will do again soon.)

[G8rMom7]

That is funny. Poor guy...he didn't know what to do. I'm sure most in that sitch would have done the same thing.