UF wideout Nelson having fun with mistaken identity

Florida wide receiver David Nelson has lost his identity. He looks so much like Tiger Woods that UF linebacker Brandon Spikes now calls him Tiger Woods.

"I don't think he knows my name anymore," Nelson said.

And then there's this Chris Leak thing.

The similarities between Nelson and the former Florida quarterback are so striking that, "I had a whole cruise ship believing I was Chris Leak."

It happened in the spring, when Nelson and some friends were on a cruise to Key West and Belize, not long after Leak had led the Gators to the national title in Arizona.

Nelson was at dinner on the ship one night when someone went on the stage and whispered something in the DJ's ear.

The next thing Nelson knew, he was Chris Leak.

"He stopped what he was doing and said he had a huge announcement to the cruise ship, saying, 'We have the national championship MVP Chris Leak on board everybody,' " Nelson said. "The spotlight found me and I was sitting at my table and had no idea what was going on. I looked up and my eyes were huge.

"Everybody gave me a standing ovation. At this point, I'm like, 'no, no,' but I stand up and wave and sit back down. The entire time for the rest of the trip I had to play damage control."

Nelson, a redshirt sophomore wide receiver, said he was besieged by autograph seekers wherever he went on the ship.

"With little kids, I didn't know whether to say I'm not Chris Leak," he said. "I didn't know whether to completely embarrass the kid or sign it and tell Chris later. I kind of scribbled."

Nelson said he told Leak about signing the autographs and that Leak found it amusing.

"He had a good laugh about it," Nelson said. "He thinks it's funny."

Nelson said there were other perks that came with being Chris Leak. One was having the opportunity to meet the ship's captain.

When asked what the response would have been if he had been confused with current UF quarterback Tim Tebow, Nelson said, "the captain would have let me drive the ship."

Nelson said he was flattered that people thought he was Chris Leak.

"Hopefully, one day someone will come up to him and ask him if he's David Nelson," Nelson said. "I don't think so. He's 5-10 and I'm 6-5. Obviously, people who think I'm Chris Leak don't know much about football."

Robbie Andreu can be reached at 352-374-5022 or andreur@gvillesun.com.