Florida's Chris Rainey Eligible To Play Against Georgia Following Arrest Last Month

Chris Rainey Eligible For Georgia, Per Urban Meyer

In the SEC Conference Call Wednesday morning, Florida head coach Urban Meyer said that running back/wide receiver Chris Rainey will be eligible for the Georgia game on October 30th. Rainey came back to practice last week but did not play in Florida’s 10-7 loss to Mississippi State.

The junior was arrested on aggravated stalking charges earlier this season after he threatened his girlfriend via text message. Meyer has said that Rainey will have to follow the terms of a contract he signed with the team and the university detailing the steps of his return to the squad, steps not including the anger management classes and other work Rainey is required to do as part of his criminal case.

Rainey is the 25th player arrested in Meyer’s tenure in Gainesville.

Florida's Chris Rainey Returns To Practice, Could Play This Season

Almost a month after being arrested on stalking charges, Florida receiver Chris Rainey is back to practicing with the team.

Florida coach Urban Meyer issued a statement Tuesday saying that Rainey has returned to practice, will not play against Mississippi State this weekend, and may play later this season.

"Chris Rainey is working towards being part of our football team again," Meyer said. "I'm disappointed that he violated a core value of our program, but he continues to pay a price for his actions. Chris will have to meet a set of conditions to become a part of our team again and although he is practicing, he will not play this weekend. The timetable for his return will depend on his ability to follow the guidelines we have laid out for him."

Rainey was originally arrested on a felony charge, but it was later reduced to a misdemeanor.

Those who thought Rainey was done for good at Florida underrated Meyer's capacity for leniency, or mercy, or whatever term makes the incensed writing about criminal football players pop on that day. But Meyer has dealt with tragedy with in the wake of dismissing a troubled player, and has had success with rehabbing one.

It remains to be seen which category Rainey will fall into.

Florida's Chris Rainey Agrees To Misdemeanor Charge, Avoids Felony

Chris Rainey, the Florida running back/wide receiver arrested for stalking nearly two weeks ago after sending a text message reading "time to die," has agreed to a misdemeanor charge, avoiding the felony charges he originally faced. The deferral comes with counseling and fines. 

"Although I believe that probable cause existed for a felony charge because the facts involve an at least arguable threat, which is within the legal definition of felony stalking, the Defendant was never in a position to have acted on that threat and there is little if anything in his actions that night or in his background to suggest that he would have done so,'' Gainesville state attorney Bill Cervone said ...

The Victim has in fact essentially stated that she was more annoyed than threatened, and that she did not want an arrest or prosecution, only the resolution of an immediate problem.

Cervone added that he won't consider dropping the case entirely though, "because [he is] concerned when young people act in this way and believe that we should intervene at least to the point of forcing a cooling off period."

The ol' "cooling off period." Law 101, right there. 

While this is certainly a step closer towards Rainey returning to the football field, that won't come this week -- coach Urban Meyer already ruled out Rainey against No. 1 Alabama, before Monday's ruling, saying, "He is not part of the team."

Chris Rainey's Lawyer Thinks He'll Escape Felony Charges

Huntley Johnson, a Gainesville attorney who knows from getting Gators out of jail, thinks Chris Rainey could escape those pesky stalking charges without a felony rap.

“It doesn’t fit the elements of the crime,” Johnson said. “This kid was never going to hurt her. She knew he wasn’t going to hurt her. The fact that he misspoke in the text is not something to crucify this kid for.”

I feel you there, Huntley. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped over something and hit enough keys on my phone on the way down to text death threats to my nearest and dearest.

“He’s devastated,” Johnson said. “He cared and cares tremendously for this woman."

Look, we like Chris Rainey as much as we can. The kid is press conference gold. But there's sticking up for your client, and then there's ... whatever this is. When we hear about him "caring" about women from now on, all we're going to hear is the voice of that creepy sociopath from the Kay Jewelers ads.

Chris Rainey 'No Longer With The Team,' Released On Own Recognizance

Associated Press reporter Mark Long quotes Florida offensive coordinator Steve Addazio as saying Chris Rainey "is no longer with the team."

That would sound like a final dismissal, except for the fact that Urban Meyer has shown mercy for firing an AK-47 in public before, and "no longer with the team" is just slippery enough to actually mean "he can work his way back into our good graces."

The Gainesville Sun reports that Chris Rainey was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday morning after being arrested on an aggravated stalking charge. The Sun additionally reports that Rainey's "sometime girlfriend" didn't want him to get arrested.

The alleged victim was also in court, with her mother and sister, and told the judge she does not fear Rainey but does fear the attention the case has drawn from the media.

"People all over the country have been calling my cell phone," the woman said. "I'm not afraid of him. I'm more afraid of all the repercussions."

She also told Ferrero that she had not intended for Rainey to be arrested.

It's anyone's guess how the victim's phone came to be bombarded, but it's likely that police had no choice to arrest Rainey, no matter what his victim wanted.

Rainey's charge is listed on his booking page as "AGGRAV STALKING: FOLLOW HARASS CYBERSTALK DEATH INJURY," which is a rather frightening series of capital letters, but amounts to a violation of Florida Statute 784.048.3, which reads:

(3) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows, harasses, or cyberstalks another person, and makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear of death or bodily injury of the person, or the person's child, sibling, spouse, parent, or dependent, commits the offense of aggravated stalking, a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084.

Texting "time to die" would certainly qualify as a credible threat, and no amount of protestation from the victim would change the fact that a text message showing that threat is near-ironclad evidence of the offense.

Florida's Chris Rainey Arrested For Stalking After Texting 'Time To Die' To Woman

Florida wide receiver (or running back or "x-factor" or whatever he is, exactly) Chris Rainey was arrested early Tuesday morning for aggravated stalking. The arrest stems from a threatening text message he sent to a woman, which read "time to die." More from GatorSports.com:

Gainesville police said the incident began when the woman fell asleep and missed a call from Rainey.

Officer Jesse Bostick said Rainey went to the woman's home, and she talked to him for about 10 minutes and then told him to leave. According to Bostick, Rainey sent a text to the woman that said: "Time to die." The woman called police after receiving the text.

Bostick said that when he arrived at the woman's home he told the woman to call Rainey so that he could talk to him.

The woman said that when she told Rainey that police wanted to speak to him, Rainey's response was, "Wait and see what happens when they leave."

Shortly thereafter, Rainey was taken into custody, and admitted sending the text message. Not like he needed to seeing as, you know, the text message itself is pretty substantial evidence.

There's no word from the university or athletic department on what, if any, punishment Rainey will face. Stay tuned to this StoryStream for updates.