GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Florida Gators joined the list of college programs with the annual feel-good story and accompanying video of walk-ons being surprised with scholarships during fall camp on Monday when they awarded two players full rides.

For at least one of them, though, it wasn't his first time being put on scholarship.

And there's an unseemly underbelly to his story, which very nearly ended before he ever had the chance to earn his scholarship. Again. For the second time.

The first time it ended with Raymond abruptly finding out his scholarship had been pulled via a letter that informed him of his status for the upcoming semester.

"He got a letter that said scholarship renewal," quarterback Luke Del Rio said in a live Periscope video on Wednesday. "Opens it up, says everything that ours say but all the dollar signs were goose eggs."

So where exactly did Raymond's story begin?

Raymond had previously been on scholarship. Swamp247 has listed him on our scholarship chart since January 2017, and it left us fending off some questions when asked why Raymond was suddenly being put on scholarship again on Monday night.

Turns out Raymond's initial scholarship was actually yanked by former coach Jim McElwain. After some digging, Swamp247 uncovered that on Wednesday afternoon and Del Rio corroborated it in a live Periscope video with some choice words for the former head coach.

Raymond was initially awarded a scholarship in January of 2017. Multiple teammates tweeted him their congratulations, including Del Rio himself, Caleb Brantley, Kelvin Taylor, D.J. Humphries, Joey Ivie and Tyler Jordan.

Unfortunately, Raymond didn't get the kind of publicity when he was awarded a scholarship at the time that he got Monday night with new coach Dan Mullen.

As Del Rio explained, McElwain's process for awarding scholarships was quite different.

"He would do these private meetings," Del Rio said. "So he's put on scholarship silently. Like the team wasn't notified, nothing. And then in July, the month of July, every half year you're sent mail, so then July and Decemeber, you're sent an official scholarship letter where it says here's what you're going to get paid."

Raymond got his in July and that's where he found out he wasn't getting any scholarship money.

He apparently wasn't the only one that had that happen. Former receiver Case Harrison, former defensive back Garrett Stephens and former linebacker Steven Stipe all also were similarly abruptly informed their time on scholarship had ended, Del Rio said.

"None of these guys have legal trouble," Del Rio said. "Case broke a couple team rules, not enough to pull someone's scholarship. They pulled scholarships because they said 'we need it for a recruit.' Well why did you put me on scholarship? If you need this to recruit somebody, why would you tease me with that?"

It's not all too uncommon for former walk-ons awarded scholarships to only be awarded a scholarship for a semester or a given academic year, though.

This wasn't that, apparently.

"It's also common for specialists like punters, kickers to share scholarships like I'm on scholarship in the fall and you're on scholarship in the spring," Del Rio said. "This is not that. They signed full-ride scholarships. It's complete bull****. This does not happen anywhere else. ... It's wrong. It's wrong. Mac's my guy, but I can't vouch for him on this one. Never agreed with it. It's bull****. It's cowardly."

Del Rio, who will have Raymond as his best man in his wedding next summer and called Raymond his 'best friend,' was pretty heated discussing the situation. He's still pretty upset at how the entire ordeal was handled.

"If you can think of a more passive-aggressive way to tell somebody that they are no longer on scholarship, tell me," Del Rio said. "You are a f****** coward if you do that. Talk to him face to face. He's one of your players. And he didn't tell him that he wasn't on scholarship any more. No legal trouble. Best teammate you could ask for, did everything that the coaches asked. And he's not the only one. This is not something that happened once."

The good news?

After nearly hanging up the cleats following that unfortunate sequence of events, Raymond stuck things out. He's on scholarship now and his feel-good story shouldn't fly under the radar, as it did the first time around.

After participating in the team's Senior Day last fall, Raymond opted to give it one more go with a new head coach. This one seems to appreciate the work he's put in a bit more.

"Yeah so last year when the previous staff got let go and the changes were being made I was talking with my family every day and trying to figure out what was next," Raymond said. "I went through Senior Day and then I saw coach Mullen was hired and I was like, 'You know, I love what this guy’s doing over at Mississippi State. He’s been extremely successful over there so I’m going to, I’d kick myself if I didn’t come back for my fifth year.'

"I made it this far. I’ve done this many things. You know, if I don’t come back for one more fall -- I’m graduating in December -- I’m going to regret that. So that was my decision to come back. And it was tough. It was a hard decision, but it ended up paying off. So I’m very glad I made that decision."