Eye-Opening takeaways from Netflix's 'Swamp Kings' documentary

College football fans have been waiting all summer for Netflix to release its four-part documentary on the 2005-2009 Florida Gators, and it has finally arrived. That team had future NFL stars, players who made questionable decisions off the field, and a polarizing coach. We’ll take a look at some of the main takeaways from the series.

If there’s one thing that comes across quite clearly in the documentary, it’s Meyer’s unmatched competitive nature. His family had a military background, and he wasn’t afraid to put his players through excruciating physical challenges to build their toughness. Even after Florida won their first national championship, Meyer became less satisfied with each passing accomplishment.

Not surprisingly, Swamp Kings highlights Tebow’s journey from high school football star to Florida Gators recruit. He turned out to be the perfect player to bring into the program, as he bought into the supreme level of discipline Meyer had instilled. Tebow was in the weight room as much as any of his teammates, which doesn’t always happen with quarterbacks.

Swamp Kings elected to sprinkle Hernandez’s storyline in throughout the series, which was an interesting choice. The future NFL tight end would eventually be convicted of murder, and there were signs that he had a short fuse in college. Tebow spoke about a time where Hernandez injured someone who was heckling him at a restaurant.

Tebow was always going to get most of the attention and credit for Florida’s success during that time, but Harvin gets his due towards the end of the documentary. Florida was not the same team when the explosive offensive weapon was forced to miss time, and they spoke to how their approach changed without him.

Florida’s roster was star-studded with names that would go on to noted NFL careers, but Siler’s role on those teams is magnified in Swamp Kings. He turned out to be a de facto coach in the locker room and off the field, since he took an active role in motivating his teammates to give it everything they had.

Meyer talks about how difficult it was to kick Avery Atkins off the team in 2006 for domestic violence. A year later, Atkins died of a drug overdose. Many questioned why Meyer would continue to give players with troubling behavior second and third chances, and he said it was because football helps give young men an outlet to stay out of harm’s way.

College football has one of the most unique seasons in sports. One loss could ruin a team’s chances of competing for a championship, and that unforgiving reality was brought up many times in Swamp Kings. As a result, the pressure to defeat talented challengers, as well as handle business against inferior teams, was through the roof.

The Florida Gators ended up winning two national championships in 2006 and 2008, but many associated with the program at that time speak about falling short of expectations. They were defeated by Alabama in the 2009 SEC title game, which Tebow identifies as the single greatest disappointment of his college career.