Gone Pro: Florida: Gator Athletes Who Became Pros

Gone Pro: Florida: Gator Athletes Who Became Pros

Gone Pro: Florida is a rousing collection of the stories of the Gator athletes whose heroics and incredible championship seasons keep them forever in our hearts and minds. Readers recognize many favorite players, as well as meeting some new ones. Relive these heartwarming stories of triumph brought to life by longtime Florida residents and die-hard Gator fans Steve Rajtar and Gayle Prince Rajtar. Gone Pro: Florida is a great gift book — fans of every generation can share their favorite moments and players with family and friends. This new book helps readers remember all the good times and the great moments in Gator sports history. THIS IS GATOR COUNTRY! It's not a place but a state of mind for Gator fans. Gone Pro Florida is an endearing collection of the biographies of accomplished Gator athletes whose exploits and championship seasons keep them forever in our hearts and minds. Find out which golfer had to putt while a fan tried to reenact a scene from Caddyshack. Read about which Gator won national championships in two different sports and medaled at the Olympics. Discover who put an alligator in the training room whirlpool at the suggestion of the head coach! See which Gator athlete consistently did a mile in under 30 seconds and tragically lost his life. Gator Football Most Gator fans knows their football team plays in The Swamp but where did that name come from? It can be traced to the coach who forever changed the legacy of football at the University of Florida during the 1990s, the quotable, Ol Ball Coach Steve Spurrier: The Swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous. And once Spurrier took over, it was. In recent years, Florida has been one of the powers in college footballwinning three national championships, getting invited to top bowl games, appearing on national television, and having many players drafted into the National Football League. However, it was not always so.. One could easily divide the history of Florida football into two eras: before and after the arrival of The Ol Ball Coach. During Florida s early years, they and most other colleges played whoever was availableLocal rivalries developed, and many games were played against semipro clubs, military units, and whomever else they could find. In 1912, the Gators joined the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, which consisted of several colleges in the Southeast in a confederation without much formal conference championship competition. In 1922, Florida moved to the Southern Conference, which had been formed the year before by Alabama, Georgia Tech, and a dozen other universities. At the urging of UF President John J. Tigert, Florida and 12 other schools west and south of the Appalachian Mountains formed the Southeastern Conference in December 1932, and ten of those schools are still competing in the SEC (Georgia Tech, Sewanee, and Tulane have since departed). No longer was the goal merely to compete and strive for a winning season; it was to win the SEC championship, which eventually brought with it the honor of representing the conference on New Year s Day in the prestigious Sugar Bowl game in New Orleans. And over the decades, oh, how the Gators tried Every year, hopes were high that this would be The Year of the Gator, but a loss or two during the season to Alabama or Georgia (or any other SEC school for that matter) would derail the team s hopes, and they would wait for The NEXT Year of the Gator. And the wait lasted for years and years and years. THIS IS GATOR COUNTRY! It's not a place but a state of mind for Gator fans. Gone Pro Florida is an endearing collection of the biographies of accomplished Gator athletes whose exploits and championship seasons keep them forever in our hearts and minds. Find out which golfer had to putt while a fan tried to reenact a scene from Caddyshack. Read about which Gator won national championships in two different sports and medaled at the Olympics. Discover who put an alligator in the training room whirlpool at the suggestion of the head coach! See which Gator athlete consistently did a mile in under 30 seconds and tragically lost his life. Gator Football Most Gator fans knows their football team plays in “The Swamp” but where did that name come from? It can be traced to the coach who forever changed the legacy of football at the University of Florida during the 1990s, the quotable, Ol’ Ball Coach Steve Spurrier: “The Swamp is where Gators live. We feel comfortable there, but we hope our opponents feel tentative. A swamp is hot and sticky and can be dangerous.” And once Spurrier took over, it was. In recent years, Florida has been one of the powers in college football—winning three national championships, getting invited to top bowl games, appearing on national television, and having many players drafted into the National Football League. However, it was