Urban Meyer's health issues once triggered the former Florida coach to quit his storied football career

Urban Meyer had a health concern towards the end of the 2009 season while coaching the Florida Gators. His health issues were not revealed, ostensibly not to shift focus from the Sugar Bowl, with UF facing his alma mater, the University of Cincinnati.

With the release of "Swamp Kings," the Netflix documentary regarding the mid-2000s Florida Gators, scrutiny has once again come over Meyer's years at FU.

The film has drawn heat from reviewers and fans for not portraying several incidents in which staff and players at Florida were involved at the time. From Aaron Hernandez to the Pouncey Brothers, the documentary skips over important events and characters.

Here's a look at one of those incidents: Urban Meyer's leave of absence in 2009.

Urban Meyer

The Urban Meyer leave of absence

On Dec. 6, 2009, a day after being defeated in the Southeastern Conference title game by Nick Saban's Alabama, Meyer was admitted into a Gainesville, Florida, area hospital. Initially, school officials told the press that he was being treated for dehydration.

There was a television news report that the coach had suffered a heart attack. According to a Saturday Down South Story by Matt Hayes, his frantic wife was concerned that he might be having a heart attack in her 911 call. Given her background as a nurse, the media took it for granted. It was later revealed that he was suffering from "severe acid reflux" from gastroesophageal reflux disease with which he had been diagnosed previously.

The reflux was in turn due to an arachnoid cyst the coach had developed. Arachnoid cysts are a form of brain lesion that develops when cerebrospinal fluid coalesces with collagen and cells between the brain and the skull. He had been diagnosed with it when he was an assistant coach at Notre Dame in the late 1990s.

This led to Meyer resigning on Dec. 26, after discussions with his family.

"I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family," Meyer said in a statement. "I'm proud to be a part of the Gainesville community and the Gator Nation, and I plan to remain in Gainesville and involved with the University of Florida."

He denied having suffered a heart attack. He was initially expected to step down after the Sugar Bowl. But the next day, Dec. 27, Meyer said that he would take an indefinite leave of absence.

The Sugar Bowl came, the Gators won and Meyer said the following to the media when asked about his future:

"I plan on being the coach of the Gators."

Even though Urban Meyer took significant time off, by the spring he was back in charge in Gainesville.

While not the darkest of obscure incidents at the time at Florida, it being overlooked for "Swamp Kings" is another reason why the documentary reads more like an Urban Meyer propaganda piece than an accurate reflection of the historical record.