All-Time Greatest Gators

I ran across this poll of the 50 Greatest Gators of All Time. I found it hard to disagree with it too much (but not impossible ... c'mon, I'm as big a fan of Chris Leak as there is, but he's just not the 5th greatest Gator; he didn't win that National Championship by himself), except for the impossibility of comparing a linebacker from 1970 with a quarterback from 2010. I know, I know, the list is there to generate conversations and arguments, and as I said, I can't argue with it too much.

That doesn't mean I can't come up with my own list. If you know much about me, you know I can't do it the same way as everybody else, so my list creates the Greatest Gator All-Star team. No weaseling allowed, so just eleven players allowed on offense and eleven on defense. And some special team players. And a coach. The addition of an entire second team isn't weasely; I prefer to call it musteline.

I've limited myself to players I have seen play, although Alvarez and Youngblood were allowed in because they just missed the cut, and I read plenty about them at the time, and I'm not about to tell either of them that I left them out.

You will notice a quite a few players from the last year or three. My biggest complaint against "greatest" lists is that recent entries are waaaay too common (see here for an example that will make you weep like a schoolgirl; I know I did), probably because the lister was too lazy to do any decent research. Rest assured that I created the list originally without the recent guys, and only added them in after careful consideration. Such are the drawbacks of supporting a successful team.

I'll admit I can't tell the difference between a guard and a tackle, so I just lumped them in as offensive linemen. I can tell the difference between a cornerback and a safety, but historically they're often listed as just "DB", so I combined that category, too. I most definitely can tell a linebacker from a defensive tackle, and I realize that Sammy Green is listed today as a linebacker, but I saw him play and dammit he played nose guard, so in this list he's a defensive tackle.

	First Team	Second Team
QB	Tim Tebow	Danny Wuerffel
RB	Emmitt Smith	Fred Taylor
RB	Neil Anderson	James Jones
WR	Carlos Alvarez	Wes Chandler
WR	Percy Harvin	Cris Collinsworth
TE	Aron Hernandez	Chris Faulkner
C	Jeff Mitchell	Phil Bromley
OL	Lomas Brown	Crawford Ker
OL	Reggie Greens	David Williams
OL	Burton Lawless	Jason Odom
OL	Jeff Zimmerman	Donnie Young
DE	Jack Youngblood	Alex Brown
DE	Kevin Carter	Jevon Kearse
DT	Brad Culpepper	Sammy Green
DT	Ellis Johnson	Trace Armstrong
LB	Wilber Marshall	Ralph Ortega
LB	Brandon Spikes	Fred Abbott
LB	Scot Brantley	Tim Paulk
DB	Louis Oliver	Will White
DB	Jarvis Williams	Lito Sheppard
DB	Reggie Nelson	Wayne Fields
DB	Joe Haden	Fred Weary
P	Ray Criswell	Shayne Edge
K	David Posey	Bobby Raymond
KR	Brandon James	Jacquez Green
Coach	Steve Spurrier	Urban Meyer

Wait til next year

Football season is just six weeks away. College football, of course, the other kind doesn't count. The Florida Gators set out to defend their national championship, and by golly, they just might do it.

I can hear you now. They won it last year. They won it two years before that. They won it in 1996. What's the big deal? Everybody hops on the bus when it's a winner.

But they haven't always been a winner. Oh, they've only had two losing seasons in the 37 years I've been following them, but you gotta know the history to understand why I'm so excited.

When I first paid attention back in 1971, the Gators were mired in mediocrity. Although Bear Bryant knew their potential when he referred to them as a "sleeping giant", they never realized that potential. Up to the early 1980's, their history was ... well ... kind of sad.

1906 Gators play first game against Gainesville Athletic Club. So embarrassed that their first game is not even against another school, they officially move the game later in time by two months.

1911 Gators finally win a game against somebody you have heard of (Clemson).

1916 The ultimate futility -- zero wins, three points scored for the season.

1918 Undefeated! Played just one game against an army unit.

1928 Undefeated and headed for the Rose Bowl, Gators fall to Tennessee. No Rose Bowl.

1935-1951 The "Golden Age" -- Gators enjoy exactly one winning season.

1942 Gators lose to Georgia 75-0. Georgia's Heisman winner Frank Sinkwich plays the entire game.

1966 Gators steal a game from FSU when Lane Fenner is ruled out-of-bounds. You decide.

1968 Coach Ray Graves gets so disgusted with assistants blaming each other that he switches them, making offensive coaches coach defense and vice versa. Bad idea. Gators lose 51-0.

1969 Gator QB John Reaves sets national record by throwing 9 interceptions in one game.

1971 The Great Gator Flop. Defense lets Miami score so Gator QB can break a record.

1974 Gators miss out on SEC championship when they lose to Georgia.

1975 Gators miss out on SEC championship when they lose to Georgia.

1976 Coach Doug Dickey goes for it on 4th down from his own 20 yard line. Georgia wins going away.

1984 Herschell Walker destroys Gators on national TV, 44-0.

1979 Penultimate futility -- Gators go winless (although they tie one).

2001 Undefeated and headed for the Rose Bowl, Gators fall to Tennessee. No Rose Bowl. Hey, that sounds familiar.

2003 FSU steals a game from the Gators in the Swindle at the Swamp. Five turnovers are decided incorrectly by the officials -- all of them in FSU's favor.

Ok, I think you see where I'm coming from now. The most common word associated with the Gators when I attended was "choke". "Wait til next year" was the unofficial motto, often shouted by students near the end of yet another disappointing loss. My roommate and I had a long discussion about whether the Gators could ever (meaning in our lifetimes) win a national championship. Conclusion: doubtful.

So today I enjoy every success the Gators have. I ain't no front front runner. I've put up with a lot over the years; now it's time to enjoy the rewards.