Gamecocks DE Geathers opts for early NFL route

If you suspected Clifton Geathers was leaving South Carolina early because of his family's influence, you were correct.
Steve Spurrier said Thursday that the junior defensive end watched his brother, Robert, get drafted by Cincinnati in the fourth round. Things have worked out for Geathers, a starting linebacker for the Bengals.
"He got drafted and he's made a lot of money," Spurrier said of the 2004 pick out of Georgia. "When he looks at that, he thinks he can do it."
Geathers' father and uncle also played in the NFL. He's working with that advice, though, and not the counsel of the league's draft advisory board, which said he'd be a late-round pick.
Spurrier urges players that aren't first- or second-round projections to return to school.
"Oh, he knows all that," said Spurrier, who last spoke with Geathers two days ago. "I still think he should've stayed. But if he's gone, he's gone."
Geathers has left the team and school. Spurrier said Geathers has turned off his cell phone.