National Signing Day: Mom leaves after son chooses Florida

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- Jacob Copeland's mother bolted from his National Signing Day decision Wednesday after he picked the University of Florida.

She was wearing an Alabama sweatshirt and a Tennessee hat when Copeland picked up a blue Gators hat and said he was going to Gainesville. The announcement was nationally televised.

Copeland's mother eventually returned to her son to give him a hug and help him sign his letter of intent. Copeland is a wide receiver from Escambia High School in Pensacola, Fla. He was listed as the No. 40 player in the 2018 ESPN 300.

"To let you know where I'm taking my talents for the next three or four years...," Copeland said at the announcement, before picking up the hat. As soon as he put the cap on, she got up and left the table he was sitting at.

"I don't know why exactly she walked out...." He told ESPN. "We had a lot of conversations back and forth about where I should go to school, but God led me and God led me in the direction that my heart desired. I couldn't go where my mom wanted to go..."

Copeland is listed at 6-foot and 192 pounds. He took visits to Florida, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Alabama before making his decision Wednesday in his high school gymnasium.

Copeland is the No. 5 wide receiver in the 2018 class.

Dan Mullen and the rest of the Florida Gators coaching staff celebrated the announcement in a video posted on Twitter by the Gators' football program.