Latest / A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators / My Interview With The MOST IMPORTANT Person in UF Football History You've NEVER Heard Of! | Gators

Transcript

My Interview With The MOST IMPORTANT Person in UF Football History You've NEVER Heard Of! | Gators · A Peek Inside Gators Football: A Show About the Florida Gators

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome back to A Peak Inside Gator Football. Allie Peek here.
0:03
Speaker 1: This video is presented by PrizePix. Don't forget, new users
0:06
Speaker 1: can download the app, play a $ 5 lineup, and use
0:09
Speaker 1: our code. It's HMA. If you win, you get $ 150
0:12
Speaker 1: in lineups instantly. All right, so I have had a
0:15
Speaker 1: lot of people on this show over the years. former players, coaches, reporters,
0:20
Speaker 1: people who have helped shape the history of Florida football.
0:24
Speaker 1: But today's guest is a little bit different because I
0:28
Speaker 1: am not sure that there is another person alive who
0:31
Speaker 1: has as many personal connections to the history of Florida
0:35
Speaker 1: football as Bill Feinberg. If you have been around the
0:38
Speaker 1: football program, you know Pizza Bill. And if you played
0:42
Speaker 1: football at Florida at some point over the last several decades,
0:46
Speaker 1: he knows you too. He started working in the Florida
0:49
Speaker 1: equipment room when he was just a kid. He eventually
0:52
Speaker 1: became the first equipment manager at UF to receive a scholarship.
0:55
Speaker 1: But really, that's just the beginning of his story. For decades,
0:59
Speaker 1: Bill has been the guy who keeps former players connected.
1:02
Speaker 1: He's organized reunions, maintained friendships across generations, and made sure
1:07
Speaker 1: that once you're a part of the Florida football family,
1:10
Speaker 1: you never leave it. And this one is personal for
1:13
Speaker 1: me because I have known Bill my entire life. He
1:16
Speaker 1: is not just somebody that I wanted to interview. He
1:19
Speaker 1: is somebody whose story I think deserves to be told.
1:22
Speaker 1: He is affectionately known as Pizza Bill, and we will
1:25
Speaker 1: get into that, why. But to many, he is the
1:28
Speaker 1: godfather of Florida football. Pizza, thank you so much for
1:32
Speaker 1: joining me. I am so excited to have you here.
1:36
Speaker 1: This is going to be the favorite interview I think
1:38
Speaker 1: I've ever done. So thanks for coming on.
1:43
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. My pleasure. And it's an honor to
1:46
Speaker 2: be on with you. And it's an old story, that's
1:50
Speaker 2: for sure. 58 years in the making here now, going
1:53
Speaker 2: on 58 seasons. So I was thinking back last night
1:56
Speaker 2: how many games I've seen, and it's quite a big number.
2:00
Speaker 2: So it was interesting.
2:02
Speaker 1: Well, I want to go all the way back to
2:04
Speaker 1: the beginning. Before you were Pizza Bill, before everybody knew
2:09
Speaker 1: you and you knew every person that had ever put
2:11
Speaker 1: on a Florida uniform, You were a little boy growing
2:13
Speaker 1: up in Gainesville. How in the world did you find
2:16
Speaker 1: yourself inside the Florida football equipment room?
2:20
Speaker 2: Timing is everything, and I happened to be riding my
2:23
Speaker 2: three-speed Schwinn bike by the practice field one day after
2:28
Speaker 2: junior high school. I had just started, I guess, sixth grade,
2:33
Speaker 2: I guess it was, and finishing up. It was 1968,
2:37
Speaker 2: and I was riding my bike, and so I'm practicing,
2:39
Speaker 2: and the ball sailed over the fence into the president's
2:43
Speaker 2: yard across the street. They didn't have a net on the, uh, goalpost.
2:46
Speaker 2: I started shagging balls for the kickers, Elwood Austin, Jim Getson, and, uh,
2:51
Speaker 2: a few of the other guys that were kicking extra points.
2:55
Speaker 2: And they didn't have, uh, anybody to shag balls for them.
2:57
Speaker 2: So I stood under the goalpost and started shagging balls and, uh,
3:02
Speaker 2: throwing them back to the guys. And that's kind of
3:04
Speaker 2: how it started one day, just kind of hanging out.
3:06
Speaker 2: And then I'd come every day and, uh, Kind of
3:10
Speaker 2: just got adopted, basically. They took me under their wing.
3:13
Speaker 2: John Reeves, Carlos Alvarez, the Super Softs of 69 were
3:18
Speaker 2: freshmen at 68. And I'd ride my bike up to
3:21
Speaker 2: the locker room, which was up the ramp in the
3:23
Speaker 2: old Florida gym, where they dressed before they had the
3:27
Speaker 2: other facility down below in John Hall. And started hanging out,
3:33
Speaker 2: and they kind of adopted me. So it was interesting.
3:36
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun.
3:38
Speaker 1: You mentioned John Reeves and Carlos Alvarez. Were they, you know,
3:41
Speaker 1: the first players who kind of made you feel like
3:44
Speaker 1: you belonged?
3:45
Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that and the managers, John Magnuson and Sarge Bannister,
3:49
Speaker 2: who was the equipment manager back in 1968, 69 through 71,
3:54
Speaker 2: who had been there for about 30 years, who came
3:56
Speaker 2: after World War II, basically. They kind of adopted me.
4:01
Speaker 2: I had nothing to do. I was able to get
4:02
Speaker 2: my homework done in the equipment room, and they let
4:05
Speaker 2: me hang around. I learned a lot about helmets and
4:08
Speaker 2: shoulder pads, which I was fascinated with at the time.
4:11
Speaker 2: That was kind of my thing I enjoyed repairing and
4:14
Speaker 2: fixing and putting together, putting the face masks on and
4:18
Speaker 2: working on the shoulder pads and making sure the strapping
4:21
Speaker 2: and everything was not rotting out and just working on
4:24
Speaker 2: different things. As a young kid, I was fascinated by
4:28
Speaker 2: the football equipment But John was very good to me.
4:31
Speaker 2: He was my hero growing up.
4:33
Speaker 1: Take me back inside that equipment room. What did it
4:37
Speaker 1: look like? Did you have any idea at the time
4:41
Speaker 1: how lucky you were to be a kid in there?
4:44
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, well back then it was very archaic. You
4:46
Speaker 2: were issuing socks and jocks and starched white shorts and
4:52
Speaker 2: just regular t-shirts. There was no logos on anything. You
4:55
Speaker 2: took a magic marker and put the size on the
4:59
Speaker 2: hip of the shoulder pads, excuse me, on the shorts.
5:03
Speaker 2: And it was very, very archaic compared to all the
5:06
Speaker 2: merchandise you see today with the Jordan logo and the
5:10
Speaker 2: Nike logos. We had none of that. We'd basically bought
5:13
Speaker 2: everything from Jimmy Hughes Sporting Goods on a bid in August.
5:16
Speaker 2: I remember writing as a teenager, as I got older, 15, 16, 17,
5:22
Speaker 2: actually writing the bids by hand on a quote sheet
5:26
Speaker 2: to go out to all the sporting goods companies around
5:29
Speaker 2: the state to bid on equipment for the university, shoes
5:32
Speaker 2: like spot built and champion sweatshirts and shorts and stuff.
5:37
Speaker 2: There was no Nike at the time. So it was very,
5:40
Speaker 2: very interesting. You had to find the different vendors, the
5:42
Speaker 2: Nelson Rockford socks and the bike, actual jock straps that
5:46
Speaker 2: you had to contact bike to buy. None of this was,
5:50
Speaker 2: you know, as available as it is today. It was,
5:52
Speaker 2: it was very arcade back in the late sixties, early seventies.
5:57
Speaker 1: What was it like watching these larger than life football players,
6:01
Speaker 1: you know, interact with each other and on the practice
6:04
Speaker 1: field when you were just a kid?
6:07
Speaker 2: It was very cool. I think back to being 11
6:10
Speaker 2: and 12 years old in 1968, 1969. And it was,
6:16
Speaker 2: I didn't realize how lucky I was, I guess, at
6:18
Speaker 2: the time. I kind of, as I get older, I
6:20
Speaker 2: think about how lucky I was and how impossible it
6:23
Speaker 2: would be to have done today to be able to
6:27
Speaker 2: do that. And just the fortunate, my fortunate ability to
6:32
Speaker 2: be there at the right time and the right place.
6:34
Speaker 2: And these guys... They took me under their wing, and
6:36
Speaker 2: they looked out for me, and they made sure that
6:40
Speaker 2: my grades were pretty good. I was always a BC student,
6:42
Speaker 2: never got A's, but my parents were cool with it.
6:46
Speaker 2: My father was the registrar at the University of Florida
6:48
Speaker 2: at the time, so that helped out. Coach Graves knew
6:51
Speaker 2: my father, and it was interesting how it kind of
6:55
Speaker 2: all came together, and I was lucky, and I was
6:59
Speaker 2: the only kid at that age, everything else, and they
7:02
Speaker 2: It was only six student managers, so they were happy
7:05
Speaker 2: to have the extra set of hands and feet to
7:07
Speaker 2: run around and shag balls and pick up stuff and
7:11
Speaker 2: repair things because they were all busy, and they were
7:13
Speaker 2: all college students. So it was cool to have those
7:18
Speaker 2: bigger brothers that were looking out for me the whole time.
7:21
Speaker 1: There had to be a moment when you went from
7:24
Speaker 1: being the little kid hanging around to somebody that the
7:27
Speaker 1: coaches and the players loved. really began to count on.
7:31
Speaker 1: Do you remember when that happened?
7:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, that kind of happened my, I guess it was
7:37
Speaker 2: my junior year of high school, 71, I guess it was,
7:41
Speaker 2: when Bud Fernandez came in. Sarge Bannister had retired, and
7:46
Speaker 2: a lot of the student managers had either graduated or left,
7:49
Speaker 2: and Bud Fernandez came in, who served 38 years from 1971,
7:52
Speaker 2: I guess he was there until about 07, 08, And
7:58
Speaker 2: he was with the team. He was Jimmy Haynes' brother-in-law,
8:01
Speaker 2: and he had just retired from the Army. And he
8:04
Speaker 2: was an Army equipment manager, basically issuing guns and uniforms
8:09
Speaker 2: and stuff like that. Didn't know anything about football. So
8:12
Speaker 2: the timing was wild that all the students had graduated,
8:16
Speaker 2: and being, I guess, 15, 16 years old, he had
8:19
Speaker 2: to rely on me to kind of run the show.
8:22
Speaker 2: So I was, once again, timing is everything. And he
8:26
Speaker 2: kind of adopted me, said, hey, you're going to be
8:28
Speaker 2: my right-hand man. I need your help, and this is
8:31
Speaker 2: how we're going to do it. And he took me
8:33
Speaker 2: under his wing and allowed me, like I said, I
8:35
Speaker 2: was writing purchase orders when I was 15, 16 years
8:38
Speaker 2: old and getting stuff approved and getting it paid for
8:41
Speaker 2: through the office over there at the university. So it
8:45
Speaker 2: was a very cool experience. You grew up very quickly,
8:48
Speaker 2: and I enjoyed the responsibility, and being around the players
8:51
Speaker 2: was just fantastic. They were all very good to me.
8:55
Speaker 1: I can't imagine.
8:56
Speaker 2: Go ahead. And, of course, when the players of my
8:59
Speaker 2: age started to come in, you know, you were running
9:02
Speaker 2: the show there, and they were very respectful. And to
9:06
Speaker 2: this day, I mean, I'm still friends with the vast
9:09
Speaker 2: majority of them. We stay in touch on a regular basis,
9:12
Speaker 2: and I talk to two or three a day on
9:14
Speaker 2: the phone and eight or ten via email and text.
9:17
Speaker 2: So it's a lot of fun.
9:20
Speaker 1: Who nicknamed you Pizza Bell?
9:22
Speaker 2: John and Carlos and Tommy Durrance, they always saw me
9:25
Speaker 2: munching on Domino's pizza. It was cool. Back then, you
9:29
Speaker 2: were able to get... It was the early days of
9:32
Speaker 2: pizza delivery. And the Domino's franchise here would come down
9:36
Speaker 2: to the locker room. And I was able to... I
9:39
Speaker 2: think it was $ 2 or $ 3. You could buy a
9:41
Speaker 2: decent-sized pizza back in the day. And I was always
9:45
Speaker 2: munching on pizza. And I was big and heavyset. And
9:49
Speaker 2: I was round, so they called me Pizza Real. I
9:52
Speaker 2: was a very big kid.
9:54
Speaker 1: And it stuck. You eventually became the first equipment manager
9:58
Speaker 1: at Florida to receive a scholarship. How did that come about?
10:01
Speaker 1: And what did that mean to you and your family?
10:04
Speaker 2: Oh, it was huge. Coach Dickey at the time, the
10:08
Speaker 2: changeover from Coach Graves to Coach Dickey, he kind of
10:12
Speaker 2: had to deal with me also. I was hanging around
10:14
Speaker 2: and he was like, who is this little kid running
10:16
Speaker 2: around here all day like he owns the place? And,
10:19
Speaker 2: you know, it was interesting during the changeover, and he
10:21
Speaker 2: was very cordial. Of course, I grew up with Dan
10:24
Speaker 2: and David and Don and all the Dickey family. They
10:27
Speaker 2: lived down the street from me. And I was friendly
10:30
Speaker 2: with Fred Panco's daughter and all the coaches' kids. Norm
10:34
Speaker 2: Carlson's son ran balls for me, and David Dickey and
10:40
Speaker 2: Daryl Dickey ran balls for me. So I was bringing
10:43
Speaker 2: in all my friends and the coaches' kids to help out.
10:46
Speaker 2: and it was kind of a consortium of younger guys
10:50
Speaker 2: that would come in on game days. I had my
10:52
Speaker 2: friends that would come in and help me with the
10:54
Speaker 2: run balls on game days or be the towel guys
10:58
Speaker 2: and Gatorade people on the sidelines. They didn't have all
11:00
Speaker 2: the personnel back then, so I'd recruit my friends in,
11:04
Speaker 2: and of course they loved being on the sidelines on
11:06
Speaker 2: game days, and it was a big deal back then
11:09
Speaker 2: to be part of the team. It was a very
11:14
Speaker 2: cool time. It wouldn't happen today.
11:17
Speaker 1: Did you ever imagine that that opportunity would change the
11:19
Speaker 1: direction of your whole life?
11:21
Speaker 2: Oh, without the University of Florida athletics?
11:24
Speaker 1: No.
11:25
Speaker 2: Football and basketball. I did basketball also when I was
11:29
Speaker 2: very young, and once football became the number one priority,
11:33
Speaker 2: I had to kind of give up basketball around 72, 73.
11:35
Speaker 2: But Neil Walk and I were very good friends in basketball.
11:41
Speaker 2: Neil was Jewish, and he used to come over to
11:42
Speaker 2: my house for dinner during the holidays and things like that,
11:45
Speaker 2: and we hung out with him and Gary Keller and
11:49
Speaker 2: all those guys in the late 60s teams. Actually, Les Loggins,
11:52
Speaker 2: who was the basketball manager, him and Rick McGinnis adopted
11:55
Speaker 2: me for basketball. So I'd stand under the baskets and
11:59
Speaker 2: feed the balls back to the players and sit on
12:02
Speaker 2: the bench during the game and handle the Gatorade and
12:04
Speaker 2: the towels during the timeouts. So it was a very
12:08
Speaker 2: cool situation that nobody, all my friends admired me and
12:13
Speaker 2: were very... they were very happy because I was able
12:18
Speaker 2: to introduce them or bring them around. John Reeves came
12:20
Speaker 2: to my bar mitzvah growing up. I mean, it was,
12:23
Speaker 2: it was, it was a weird situation when you think
12:25
Speaker 2: back how crazy it really was. These guys come in and,
12:28
Speaker 2: you know, my mother like, who is he bringing over
12:31
Speaker 2: to dinner tonight? You know? And it was, it was cool.
12:34
Speaker 2: We'd have a player over about once every two, you know,
12:37
Speaker 2: every two or three weeks when God come over and
12:39
Speaker 2: hang out at the house. Chris Anderson showed me how
12:42
Speaker 2: to make swag lamps out of the old cracked helmets,
12:44
Speaker 2: how to, do the electrical work and, you know, run
12:47
Speaker 2: the wiring. And I started making swag helmets out of
12:50
Speaker 2: the old helmets and selling those and cutting the helmets
12:53
Speaker 2: in half and making the... In the background, you can
12:57
Speaker 2: see I'm kind of a helmet guy. So helmets and
13:02
Speaker 2: mounted helmets on wood and sold those to guys and
13:06
Speaker 2: just always finding ways to do things. So it was
13:10
Speaker 2: a lot of fun.
13:11
Speaker 1: When people... think of Florida football history. They think about
13:15
Speaker 1: the iconic coaches and players, and you knew so many
13:19
Speaker 1: of those people before they became legends. Who was somebody
13:22
Speaker 1: that fans remember as this larger-than-life figure, but you remember
13:27
Speaker 1: very differently because you knew the person behind the football player?
13:31
Speaker 2: Well, Coach Spurrier is one who was very good. I
13:35
Speaker 2: knew him as a player, and I knew him as
13:36
Speaker 2: an assistant coach, and I knew him as a head
13:39
Speaker 2: coach because I worked for him in 2001. His final season,
13:43
Speaker 2: I came back after I retired and worked for him
13:45
Speaker 2: one year with Tim Sain. Tim Sain was the head
13:49
Speaker 2: student equipment manager when I was there in Florida and
13:51
Speaker 2: was very nice to bring me back when I retired
13:54
Speaker 2: in 01. And then took me to the Bucks in
13:56
Speaker 2: 02 and ended up going to the Super Bowl with them.
13:59
Speaker 2: So I've had a very blessed career as far as
14:03
Speaker 2: just being at the right place at the right time.
14:05
Speaker 2: I think that's pretty much the reason for my success,
14:08
Speaker 2: always having my foot in the door at the right time. But,
14:12
Speaker 2: you know, I've worked for Ray Graves and Doug Dickey and,
14:16
Speaker 2: you know, Coach Pell. And I did a year with
14:19
Speaker 2: Galen Hall. And, you know, I worked a little bit
14:23
Speaker 2: spring with Ron Zook. And I worked with Gruden and
14:27
Speaker 2: just a plethora of these coaches. But I think the
14:30
Speaker 2: assistants who've gone on, the Ken Hatfields, the Kim Heltons,
14:35
Speaker 2: the Alan Trammels, The guys, Charlie Strong, who I love
14:39
Speaker 2: to death. He was always very good to me. There's
14:44
Speaker 2: so many guys that have come through. There's 2,300 former
14:47
Speaker 2: players still alive, and I deal with a lot of them.
14:50
Speaker 2: I mean, unfortunately, we had one of our players just
14:53
Speaker 2: pass yesterday, Harvey Thomas, so I was spending time writing
14:57
Speaker 2: an obituary for him. He played in the late 80s,
14:59
Speaker 2: early 90s. And, of course, you feel the calls, hey,
15:02
Speaker 2: what happened? When's the funeral, et cetera, et cetera. And
15:06
Speaker 2: I'm working on the 0608 reunion, which your husband hopefully
15:10
Speaker 2: will be attending here. Absolutely. And working on that list
15:12
Speaker 2: and trying to find the lost souls that haven't been
15:15
Speaker 2: in touch and working on those two lists actually this
15:18
Speaker 2: morning before I came on with you. So it's a
15:21
Speaker 2: full-time job, and I work out of my house here
15:24
Speaker 2: and do about four to six hours a day between
15:27
Speaker 2: the phone and the computer and get out and do
15:29
Speaker 2: some yard work to stretch out and just not sit
15:31
Speaker 2: in front of the screen all day. So that's kind
15:33
Speaker 2: of my life these days.
15:35
Speaker 3: We're going to take a short break from this interview
15:37
Speaker 3: to give a little bit of love over to Summit
15:39
Speaker 3: Wealth Advisors. Former Gator punter and national champion Eric Wilber
15:44
Speaker 3: knows the importance of having a winning game plan. At
15:47
Speaker 3: Summit Wealth Advisors, Eric brings the same mindset to your retirement.
15:51
Speaker 3: With in-depth knowledge of FRS, local pensions, and retirement plans,
15:56
Speaker 3: Summit helps you make the most of what you've earned.
15:59
Speaker 3: They can even provide professional investment management inside many existing
16:03
Speaker 3: 401k accounts without requiring a rollover. Don't leave your financial
16:07
Speaker 3: future to chance. Have a game plan. Win your retirement.
16:11
Speaker 3: Summit Wealth Advisors. Gators helping Gators.
16:14
Speaker 1: You were around this program during a time when college
16:17
Speaker 1: football was very different than it is today. What's something
16:21
Speaker 1: that happened behind the scenes in those days that you
16:23
Speaker 1: could never imagine happening in today's college football world?
16:28
Speaker 2: Just the way things are running. It was a game
16:30
Speaker 2: back in my day, and now it's a big, big business.
16:33
Speaker 2: It's a billion-dollar industry. And it's kind of soured me
16:37
Speaker 2: a little bit, to be honest with you, this last
16:40
Speaker 2: season or so with the NIL and just talking with
16:43
Speaker 2: so many of the former players who, did not get
16:46
Speaker 2: the benefits, I guess you could say, that these current
16:50
Speaker 2: players are getting in the last three or four years.
16:53
Speaker 2: And to some, they're bitter. And to others, they're rolling
16:57
Speaker 2: with it. And to me, I'm a little bit melancholy
17:00
Speaker 2: about the whole thing. I love the game day. I
17:03
Speaker 2: love going to the games and watching the guys play.
17:06
Speaker 2: But it's hard to get to know the players now.
17:08
Speaker 2: It's different. We lived together in Yonhom. We ate together.
17:14
Speaker 2: You know, the hallways were always full of music and
17:17
Speaker 2: laughter and fun and joking around and playing the dozens.
17:22
Speaker 2: And living in the dorm with the players, my roommate
17:24
Speaker 2: was Napoleon Green, so we lived in 237. And, you know,
17:28
Speaker 2: Skipper and your father and his roommates lived down the hall.
17:32
Speaker 2: And Scott Brantley and John Brantley and all these guys
17:35
Speaker 2: that I grew up with, we literally lived down the hall.
17:38
Speaker 2: They'd bring their laundry to my mom's house to use
17:41
Speaker 2: the washer and dryer. I mean, we were tight. And
17:44
Speaker 2: I don't see that with this group of players. They
17:46
Speaker 2: kind of grab their meal and their to-go plate and
17:49
Speaker 2: hop in their car or hop on their moped and
17:51
Speaker 2: go back to their apartment and crank up the PlayStation.
17:56
Speaker 2: They don't want to assimilate like we did as a team,
17:58
Speaker 2: and I think that's a big problem with the transfer
18:00
Speaker 2: portal the way it is. You really don't get to
18:03
Speaker 2: know your teammates for the full four or five years,
18:06
Speaker 2: and you've got to find a way to keep those
18:08
Speaker 2: guys together for the duration of their eligibility. And I
18:13
Speaker 2: don't think we've solved that problem yet. And I think
18:16
Speaker 2: if Florida would work hard at, A, bringing back their
18:21
Speaker 2: former players and recognizing those guys like they're doing for
18:25
Speaker 2: the 06 and the 08 team, like they need to
18:27
Speaker 2: do for the 84, 85, and 90 teams, and recognize
18:31
Speaker 2: those teams on the wall of the stadium when they
18:33
Speaker 2: renovate and with the signage and just in everything. Those
18:36
Speaker 2: teams have got the short shrift for the last 42 years,
18:40
Speaker 2: I guess now. and they brought us back two years
18:45
Speaker 2: ago for the Kentucky game. And I can still remember, unfortunately,
18:49
Speaker 2: Gerald Dickens passed away, and he was kind of the
18:51
Speaker 2: quarterback of this whole thing trying to get the recognition.
18:55
Speaker 2: And before I go to my grave, I would like
18:57
Speaker 2: to see the numbers 84, 85, and 90 on the
19:00
Speaker 2: stadium during the renovation and in the practice facility with
19:04
Speaker 2: some signage around and to recognize Coach Pell and Coach
19:10
Speaker 2: Hall's teams from 84, 85. and Coach Spurrier's team a 90,
19:14
Speaker 2: which did nothing wrong and got screwed. I think it's
19:18
Speaker 2: up to Scott Strickland and Commissioner Sankey to get together
19:23
Speaker 2: along with the presidents and make that happen. A lot
19:27
Speaker 2: of other schools recognize their championships, and for some reason
19:30
Speaker 2: Florida is holier than thou and doesn't for some reason,
19:34
Speaker 2: and I think it's up to Scott Strickland, and I'm
19:36
Speaker 2: going to call him out on this conversation right here
19:39
Speaker 2: to make something happen for those three teams. They deserve it.
19:42
Speaker 1: Yeah, they are absolutely worthy and deserving. And I do.
19:47
Speaker 1: I think you're right. I think that we so many.
19:49
Speaker 1: players are mercenaries in today's college football game. And that
19:53
Speaker 1: doesn't mean all of them. I think we have some
19:55
Speaker 1: that really do understand what the logo means and carry
19:58
Speaker 1: the weight of that. But I think it is much
20:00
Speaker 1: harder when it is so transient to create those relationships
20:04
Speaker 1: that you have and that, you know, former players and
20:07
Speaker 1: generations past have When you look back at everything you've
20:11
Speaker 1: witnessed around Florida football, is there one moment you wish
20:15
Speaker 1: you could step back into for five minutes just to
20:18
Speaker 1: experience it again?
20:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Florida-Georgia game is where I left championship rings
20:23
Speaker 2: on the field and three times I think it was
20:26
Speaker 2: that we lost on some plays that didn't go our way.
20:34
Speaker 2: There were some rings that I don't have now because of,
20:38
Speaker 2: Just one play that Georgia beat us on. That's the
20:42
Speaker 2: sticks in my craw that we didn't win the championships.
20:44
Speaker 2: We had some opportunities in 75, 76, and in some
20:50
Speaker 2: of the early 80s teams that I worked on that
20:54
Speaker 2: we left some rings on the ground in Jacksonville, which
20:57
Speaker 2: that's probably what I lose the most sleep over. But
21:01
Speaker 2: we had some great teams back in the 70s with
21:04
Speaker 2: the family on the offensive line and Don Gaffney and,
21:07
Speaker 2: you know, You know, Terry the Count and those guys.
21:12
Speaker 2: It was a great time. We had the fastest backfield
21:16
Speaker 2: in the country back then with Tony Green and Earl
21:18
Speaker 2: Carr and Willie Wilder and the late Robert Morgan and
21:21
Speaker 2: all those guys, the late James Richards. I mean, those
21:25
Speaker 2: guys could fly, and it was so much fun on
21:28
Speaker 2: that AstroTurf at Florida Field back in my day. It
21:31
Speaker 2: was just incredible.
21:33
Speaker 1: Here's what I find remarkable about your story. Most people
21:37
Speaker 1: leave a job or graduate from college and they slowly
21:40
Speaker 1: lose touch with the people that they knew. You've done
21:44
Speaker 1: the complete opposite. You've maintained friendships with players across practically
21:49
Speaker 1: every living generation of Florida football. How have you done that?
21:54
Speaker 2: It's a labor of love. These guys were my brothers.
21:58
Speaker 2: I've got a real brother, my brother Mark in Atlanta,
22:01
Speaker 2: who I love, but I see him a couple of
22:04
Speaker 2: times a year. He comes in for the games. but
22:06
Speaker 2: these guys literally were my family. I took care of them,
22:09
Speaker 2: made sure that they were as, as healthy as they
22:13
Speaker 2: could be with the right equipment. And, uh, we're friends.
22:16
Speaker 2: I mean, we're, we stay in touch and it's, we
22:19
Speaker 2: talk Florida football and we, uh, we enjoy each other's company.
22:24
Speaker 2: People come and stay at my house. I've had some
22:26
Speaker 2: players live with me when they were down on their luck.
22:28
Speaker 2: I've had, uh, guys, you know, bring their wives and
22:31
Speaker 2: stay at my house for games. I mean, uh, At
22:34
Speaker 2: one time, for one Florida State game, we had people
22:37
Speaker 2: sleeping out by my pool in sleeping bags because I
22:40
Speaker 2: invited too many folk. So it was, you know, your
22:44
Speaker 2: family goes back three generations. The Browns, BB3, I mean,
22:50
Speaker 2: I started with Charlie Brown. We went to high school
22:52
Speaker 2: together at Gainesville High School. There's the Graham family, I mean,
22:58
Speaker 2: the Jackson family, the McGriff family, all these people that,
23:01
Speaker 2: I've seen their sons and their cousins and their nephews
23:05
Speaker 2: come and play. You know, your brother has played and
23:08
Speaker 2: your father's played and your grandfather played. And though I
23:13
Speaker 2: was a little bit after your grandfather, you know, your
23:15
Speaker 2: father was a teammate of mine. And, you know, the
23:18
Speaker 2: Kyle Cobrans of the world and all these guys I
23:20
Speaker 2: went to high school with who came through and played
23:22
Speaker 2: at Florida. And the guys that came up, I'll tell
23:24
Speaker 2: you the conduit, which was really cool, was the old
23:28
Speaker 2: North South High School players. all-star games that they used
23:31
Speaker 2: to play so and back in the 70s the players
23:34
Speaker 2: used to come up for two weeks and it was
23:36
Speaker 2: football and basketball and basically I was running the football
23:40
Speaker 2: and the basketball during the summer so I got to
23:42
Speaker 2: meet all kinds of uh people during that time and
23:45
Speaker 2: made a lot of lifelong friends and I believe in
23:48
Speaker 2: staying in touch and I try to reach out I
23:51
Speaker 2: was uh speaking to uh earlier this morning on some situations.
23:57
Speaker 2: And we all try to stay in touch. And I
24:00
Speaker 2: had very little involvement with Coach Puryear from 90 to 99.
24:04
Speaker 2: I ran the Letterman's Club, the F Club, on game
24:07
Speaker 2: days back in that time. So I wasn't actually on
24:09
Speaker 2: the field. And a lot of the players didn't know
24:12
Speaker 2: me until they graduated and would come to the F
24:14
Speaker 2: Club to visit. So I built that relationship. But the
24:19
Speaker 2: women's sports and the cheerleaders running the front door of
24:22
Speaker 2: the F Club, there's over 11,000 letter winners now, men
24:27
Speaker 2: and women. So it's quite a club. And you meet
24:30
Speaker 2: these people and their families and you try and stay
24:33
Speaker 2: in touch. But the most important thing, I think, for me,
24:36
Speaker 2: is the networking opportunities it has provided. And the ability
24:40
Speaker 2: for me to say, hey, Ali, you need to speak
24:42
Speaker 2: with so-and-so because they're in the broadcast field. Or, hey,
24:46
Speaker 2: you need to know Shane and all these other guys
24:48
Speaker 2: that are doing podcasts so you can work with each other.
24:53
Speaker 2: I enjoy reading, you know, Gerald Loper just came out
24:55
Speaker 2: with a book. Ben Hanks has done a book. Uh,
24:59
Speaker 2: everybody's writing books now. I'm, I'm awaiting Coach Dickey's book here.
25:02
Speaker 2: He's 94 and I'm waiting for his book to come out.
25:06
Speaker 2: I'm reading a book by Gay Culverhouse when the, uh,
25:09
Speaker 2: when the, uh, she just put out a book, uh, posthumously,
25:13
Speaker 2: I guess she's been dead for a couple of years and, and, uh,
25:16
Speaker 2: Mary Brantley, Scott's wife, gave me the book. I want
25:19
Speaker 2: to read that about when the cheering stops, about when
25:22
Speaker 2: life after football ends. So she's written a book that
25:25
Speaker 2: I'm reading now. So those are the kind of things
25:28
Speaker 2: that I enjoy doing. But being around the players, coming
25:31
Speaker 2: back on game day, tailgating, thanks to Coca-Cola Florida and
25:35
Speaker 2: John Browning, he's allowed us the last couple of years
25:37
Speaker 2: to have a tent outside on the Gator Walk and
25:40
Speaker 2: was helping us raise money for the Willie Jackson Leonard
25:42
Speaker 2: George Scholarship, and we funded that totally. And there's a
25:46
Speaker 2: lot of behind-the-scenes stuff that I like to stay involved with,
25:50
Speaker 2: with the charitable aspects. And we've got some homelessness, we've
25:54
Speaker 2: got some drug abuse, and we try and help guys,
25:57
Speaker 2: get them into rehab and things like that, that the
25:59
Speaker 2: university really can't get involved in for liability reasons. And
26:03
Speaker 2: I understand that, but I think there needs to be
26:05
Speaker 2: some programs set up to help these guys with life
26:08
Speaker 2: after football. And that's kind of my big concern, is...
26:11
Speaker 2: making sure everybody's got a job when they leave because
26:14
Speaker 2: the NFL is definitely not for long. And these guys,
26:18
Speaker 2: they all think they're going to make it to the league,
26:21
Speaker 2: and it's a rude awakening when they don't. So it's
26:25
Speaker 2: one of those things that is kind of my passion
26:27
Speaker 2: is making sure everybody's working and networking with each other.
26:31
Speaker 2: That's the big thing. You kind of fall into your
26:33
Speaker 2: own world with your family. So it's a tough deal.
26:38
Speaker 1: I'm convinced that your phone might be the single most
26:41
Speaker 1: valuable piece of Florida football history in existence. How many
26:46
Speaker 1: former players do you actually have in there? And, like,
26:49
Speaker 1: if I gave you a random name from, like, the 70s,
26:52
Speaker 1: how quickly could you find them?
26:53
Speaker 2: Well, I turn my phone off. That's the problem. So,
26:56
Speaker 2: I mean, I can turn it on and then type in.
26:58
Speaker 2: That's okay.
26:59
Speaker 1: I won't really quiz you.
27:00
Speaker 2: But pretty much. It's quite a few. I've got it
27:05
Speaker 2: broken down, and there's some duplicates in there because I've
27:08
Speaker 2: got people categorized by different decades and different things. So
27:13
Speaker 2: there's a total of 55,000, a little over 55,000 names,
27:17
Speaker 2: but there's an average of about five names per person.
27:22
Speaker 2: So you're... you're listed in different categories. So I'm able
27:26
Speaker 2: to find you easily. So if I said 70s Gators,
27:29
Speaker 2: your father would show up. Tampa Gators, he would show up.
27:33
Speaker 2: Former letter winners, he would show up. And he's in
27:36
Speaker 2: about three or four different categories. And, you know, building
27:39
Speaker 2: construction and real estate. So I break it down a
27:43
Speaker 2: bunch of different ways. So when I'm talking to somebody,
27:45
Speaker 2: I go, oh, yeah, you need to talk to this guy.
27:47
Speaker 2: So that's kind of the way it works.
27:50
Speaker 1: What is it about the relationships between football players that
27:53
Speaker 1: survived the passing of decades? Like you've watched these guys,
27:57
Speaker 1: my dad is a great example, go from 20-year-old teammates
28:01
Speaker 1: to grandfathers. What changes and then what never changes when
28:06
Speaker 1: they get back together?
28:08
Speaker 2: Well, the stories never change. There's a lot of fun.
28:13
Speaker 2: It's different now than it was when we were growing up.
28:16
Speaker 2: When you lived in Yon Hall, There's a lot of
28:19
Speaker 2: stories that are not available for broadcast, I guess you
28:22
Speaker 2: could say. A lot of stuff went on that you
28:25
Speaker 2: just can't talk about. And that's the cool part about
28:30
Speaker 2: being part of a team. And the most interesting thing
28:34
Speaker 2: to me is growing up with these guys and being
28:37
Speaker 2: able to be part of their families. I mean, everywhere
28:41
Speaker 2: I go, I'm very lucky. People take very good care
28:45
Speaker 2: of me. Mark G. Francisco just came down recently. from Nashville, Tennessee,
28:49
Speaker 2: to visit for the game, for the South Carolina game,
28:53
Speaker 2: and he brought me this huge gator. He brought it
28:59
Speaker 2: down just for me. He had it in his restaurant
29:01
Speaker 2: up there in Nashville, and when he closed the restaurant,
29:04
Speaker 2: he says, what am I going to do with this?
29:05
Speaker 2: I'll bring it to Bill, and I've got it out
29:07
Speaker 2: by my pool. I spent time with Rod Brooks and
29:10
Speaker 2: Bill Fiorillo down in Fort Myers a couple of weeks ago.
29:13
Speaker 2: Spent time with your parents and I think they were
29:16
Speaker 2: Joe Vore, and he came in from Texas. They all
29:19
Speaker 2: got an Airbnb right around the corner from my house.
29:23
Speaker 2: And we hung out for, I guess it was FAU. And,
29:26
Speaker 2: you know, every weekend there's always something going on, whether
29:29
Speaker 2: we're hanging out at Spurrier's or whether there's a reunion
29:33
Speaker 2: going on or whether I'm involved with Gator Maid and
29:36
Speaker 2: what they've got going or just hey everybody where's the
29:39
Speaker 2: tailgate this week everybody's texting me where are we going
29:42
Speaker 2: to meet or where are we going to dinner and
29:44
Speaker 2: I'm in town I mean Chris Greaves came in who
29:48
Speaker 2: was a transfer from Michigan back in the late 70s
29:52
Speaker 2: early 80s he came in from California for the FAU
29:55
Speaker 2: game and we just all get together and everybody will
29:58
Speaker 2: drop by the house and Just hang out for a
30:00
Speaker 2: little while, and we sit around, tell stories, laugh. I've
30:04
Speaker 2: got all the games on DVD, so I'll pop in.
30:07
Speaker 2: If they bring their kids, I'll pop in a DVD
30:09
Speaker 2: and say, hey, that was your dad playing back in
30:11
Speaker 2: the day. And that's pretty much it. I can pull
30:14
Speaker 2: out the pictures and show them the programs. I'm pretty much, unfortunately,
30:19
Speaker 2: Norm Carlson's no longer with us, and he was recognized
30:22
Speaker 2: as the historian for many, many years, and I guess
30:24
Speaker 2: I've kind of adopted that position now.
30:27
Speaker 1: You absolutely have. And you've seen Florida football through so
30:30
Speaker 1: many different eras, different coaches, different generations. We talk all
30:34
Speaker 1: the time about the success of the program as a whole.
30:37
Speaker 1: But what is it, do you think, that has always
30:42
Speaker 1: made Florida football special, regardless of who was coaching it
30:46
Speaker 1: or even whether the team was winning or not?
30:49
Speaker 2: Well, the fans have a lot to do with that,
30:51
Speaker 2: I think. The passion for Florida football I don't think
30:55
Speaker 2: will ever die. And the fans, it's interesting. I have
31:01
Speaker 2: to sit in the stands now. I'm not able to
31:03
Speaker 2: be on the sidelines at my age. I just don't
31:05
Speaker 2: add anything to the program anymore. So I sit in
31:08
Speaker 2: the stands. And I was watching some of my teammates.
31:12
Speaker 2: We sit in sections 22, 23, and 24 in the
31:15
Speaker 2: end zone. They have a special area for the former players.
31:19
Speaker 2: And the fans are going crazy. I mean, just on
31:22
Speaker 2: the seats, hollering, clapping, screaming. And all the players, like me,
31:28
Speaker 2: just kind of sitting there, and we're watching the game intently,
31:31
Speaker 2: and everything around us is going crazy. And it's one
31:35
Speaker 2: of those deals where you've got to get that cool down.
31:39
Speaker 2: But the players are watching intently, and everything around us
31:42
Speaker 2: is just going crazy. So it's interesting to see the
31:45
Speaker 2: dichotomy between the players who are actually watching, who go
31:48
Speaker 2: to watch the game and watch their positions versus the
31:51
Speaker 2: fans who are, you know, just having a good time.
31:55
Speaker 1: Well, I know where you sit, and you have a
31:56
Speaker 1: bird's eye view of me being the person going crazy
31:59
Speaker 1: on the bleachers and Eric being the person that stands
32:01
Speaker 1: there completely stoic.
32:03
Speaker 2: Yes, stoic is the correct term. We're all watching the game.
32:06
Speaker 2: We're watching our position or what's going on around the field.
32:09
Speaker 2: I'm watching the ball boys. I'm watching the managers. I'm
32:12
Speaker 2: watching the coaches on the sidelines. We all have our
32:15
Speaker 2: little nuances that we look at in the game, and
32:17
Speaker 2: we compare notes after the game. And it's very interesting
32:21
Speaker 2: to me that, yes, that's the difference between a former
32:25
Speaker 2: player and the fans. Yeah.
32:27
Speaker 1: You have known some of the greatest players in Florida
32:29
Speaker 1: football history, but I want you to think about the
32:31
Speaker 1: guys whose names fans are not going to immediately recognize.
32:35
Speaker 1: Is there a former Gator who never became famous but
32:38
Speaker 1: represents everything you believe Florida football should stand for?
32:43
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a tough question. Oh, my goodness. There's dozens
32:48
Speaker 2: and dozens. I mean... just I'd have to say take
32:53
Speaker 2: the walk-ons for example a guy like Timmy Ike who
32:57
Speaker 2: was in my era who's given his whole life pretty
33:00
Speaker 2: much over there to the office of student life uh
33:03
Speaker 2: and counseling kids not only football players but all the
33:07
Speaker 2: all the athletes that have come through the university in
33:09
Speaker 2: the past 40 years as far as mentoring them and
33:13
Speaker 2: getting them their classes assigned and making sure they're on
33:16
Speaker 2: the track to graduate over there in the office of
33:18
Speaker 2: student life um There's tons of guys, guys like Charlie Skolaski,
33:23
Speaker 2: who walked on, who was a defensive back. You know,
33:28
Speaker 2: Willie Jackson and Leonard George are my heroes. They came
33:31
Speaker 2: in under very interesting circumstances during a very difficult time
33:36
Speaker 2: here in Alachua County. I was the first year of integration,
33:40
Speaker 2: and the only reason Napoleon Green and I became friends
33:43
Speaker 2: was we were at Westwood, and they had bussed all
33:47
Speaker 2: the blacks over to Westwood Middle School. And that was
33:51
Speaker 2: my first basic interaction with African Americans. So we either
33:56
Speaker 2: made friends or we were fighting every day. So Nap
33:59
Speaker 2: Green and I made friends, and we ended up pulling off.
34:02
Speaker 2: There was a lot of fighting going on back in
34:03
Speaker 2: the early days of integration. So that's how we became friends.
34:07
Speaker 2: And there's a lot of guys. I mean, you just
34:11
Speaker 2: can't narrow it down to one. It would be unfair.
34:14
Speaker 2: It would be unfair. There's a tremendous group of guys
34:17
Speaker 2: that came through during my era, late 60s, early 70s, 80s.
34:21
Speaker 2: The 90s, it was a great group of guys. They've
34:25
Speaker 2: adopted me. They invite me to all their events. I mean,
34:28
Speaker 2: the 2000 guys in 2001, you know, Mike Pearson and
34:33
Speaker 2: Grossman and Todd Johnson, and the list goes on with
34:36
Speaker 2: those guys. We do a Florida, Rob Roberts, we do
34:39
Speaker 2: a Florida community camp all around the state. We're going
34:42
Speaker 2: to Todd Johnson's school down in Sarasota next year. We're
34:45
Speaker 2: up at Aaron Deal's school up in Fort Walton Beach,
34:48
Speaker 2: this summer to do a camp, and it's kind of
34:50
Speaker 2: a mini reunion for the players. So I cross all decades,
34:55
Speaker 2: and I've become basically the town crier, and the conduit,
34:58
Speaker 2: I guess, is the best way to put it for
35:01
Speaker 2: all these guys. Keep in touch.
35:03
Speaker 1: The glue, for sure. You started out as a little
35:07
Speaker 1: kid who just wanted to be around Florida football, and
35:09
Speaker 1: now here we are, more than a half a century later,
35:11
Speaker 1: you're still an important part of this family. What do
35:15
Speaker 1: you think you know, that little boy would think of
35:19
Speaker 1: the life that you have made?
35:21
Speaker 2: Oh, he would thank his lucky stars. He was, he
35:24
Speaker 2: was such a goof off as a young kid, but, uh,
35:28
Speaker 2: you know, the glue, that's what everybody says. You're the glue. Well,
35:31
Speaker 2: I guess I'm super glue cause I'm hanging in there.
35:34
Speaker 2: I'll be 70 next year. And it's, it's, I think back, it's,
35:38
Speaker 2: it's been a long time and there's been a lot
35:41
Speaker 2: of water under the bridge and a lot of football games.
35:44
Speaker 2: But I wouldn't trade any of it. It opened doors
35:48
Speaker 2: for me in business. It opened doors with everything that
35:53
Speaker 2: I have accomplished in my life. And without Florida football
35:56
Speaker 2: and basketball, I wouldn't know where I would be or
35:59
Speaker 2: what I would be doing. It gave me a purpose,
36:04
Speaker 2: and it gave me a ready-made family for the rest
36:08
Speaker 2: of my life. And these guys... Allie, I'm going to
36:11
Speaker 2: tell you, these guys, they look out for me. They
36:13
Speaker 2: take such good care of me. They always call and concern,
36:18
Speaker 2: how's your health? What's going on? What are you doing?
36:22
Speaker 2: And it's heartwarming and touching how many of these guys
36:26
Speaker 2: reach out on a daily basis. Just a short email,
36:30
Speaker 2: yo man, coming in for the game. I need this,
36:33
Speaker 2: I need that. Or, hey, how are you doing? It's
36:37
Speaker 2: more than just asking for tickets or Who do I
36:40
Speaker 2: talk to? I have been the one constant through all
36:44
Speaker 2: the different coaching changes and all the different front office changes.
36:48
Speaker 2: So everybody has my email. Everybody has my phone number.
36:53
Speaker 2: And that's kind of, I guess that's the consistency. Just
36:57
Speaker 2: getting up every day and being consistent. That's kind of
37:00
Speaker 2: the key to my success.
37:02
Speaker 1: One day, somebody's going to have to take over. being
37:05
Speaker 1: the connection between the generation.
37:08
Speaker 2: We've been talking about that. I, I don't think it's
37:11
Speaker 2: going to happen. I don't think anybody has the unique
37:14
Speaker 2: situation that I have and everybody else has family. I've
37:20
Speaker 2: been trying to talk to my brother, but he's got
37:22
Speaker 2: his family and he's up in Atlanta and he doesn't, uh,
37:26
Speaker 2: he doesn't, I'm afraid that he's going to take my
37:28
Speaker 2: laptop and chunk it and all of the data will
37:32
Speaker 2: be gone forever. But, uh, Knowing him, he'll find a
37:35
Speaker 2: way to get it to somebody, I hope. That's my wish.
37:38
Speaker 2: But I don't know. I've asked some of the younger
37:41
Speaker 2: guys and nobody's willing to take on the responsibility. It's
37:45
Speaker 2: a hell of a lot of work. I mean, I
37:48
Speaker 2: sit here four to six hours a day working at
37:51
Speaker 2: it and picking up the phone and not everybody answers
37:53
Speaker 2: their phone. And I've had to learn to text and
37:56
Speaker 2: I've had to learn to hit Instagram and X and,
38:00
Speaker 2: you know, LinkedIn and there's a, Thank God for the internet.
38:05
Speaker 2: My boss was pretty cool. Back in the late 80s,
38:07
Speaker 2: we had watch lines because we had a telemarketing company
38:10
Speaker 2: that I worked for. And at night, I was able
38:12
Speaker 2: to get on the watch lines and just start dialing
38:15
Speaker 2: to reach these guys. So I need to thank my boss,
38:18
Speaker 2: Nate Bisk, for allowing me to use his watch lines
38:21
Speaker 2: at night.
38:22
Speaker 1: What do you hope future generations understand about the importance
38:26
Speaker 1: of keeping these relationships alive, especially... in this NIL era
38:31
Speaker 1: where there are so many mercenaries as opposed to what
38:34
Speaker 1: I would consider both of us, which is lifers?
38:37
Speaker 2: I'd like to know how many of the current players
38:40
Speaker 2: are here, A, to get an education, B, to be
38:43
Speaker 2: a Florida Gator, or C, just here to collect a check.
38:47
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm still trying to tally those numbers.
38:51
Speaker 2: I know Vernell Brown is here for the right reasons.
38:53
Speaker 2: I know Ben Hanks III is here for the right reasons.
38:56
Speaker 2: I know Miles is here for the right reasons. I
38:59
Speaker 2: know Bailey Stockton is here for the right reasons. I've
39:01
Speaker 2: spoken with him a few times. I know Aaron Filo
39:04
Speaker 2: is here for the right reasons. I really haven't been
39:07
Speaker 2: able to get to know this group with the changeover
39:11
Speaker 2: with Coach Napier and Coach Summerall. I've kind of taken
39:14
Speaker 2: two steps back and spending more time at the house
39:17
Speaker 2: working than going to practice. So it's kind of 50-50
39:21
Speaker 2: my fault for trying to do some other things in
39:26
Speaker 2: my life right now. At 69 years old, I've kind
39:29
Speaker 2: of taken a step back I used to go to
39:31
Speaker 2: practices I never missed a practice from the from the
39:35
Speaker 2: Will Muschamp era until Coach Napier left I was there
39:41
Speaker 2: every day I live a mile from the practice facility
39:44
Speaker 2: So I was able to either drive by there and
39:46
Speaker 2: park my car at 4 o'clock and watch for a
39:48
Speaker 2: couple hours and then go to dinner or hang out
39:51
Speaker 2: with guys that would come. And that was the real
39:54
Speaker 2: cool thing about going to practice. You'd always run into
39:57
Speaker 2: a Ricky Nateel or Mike Pearson would come in. And
40:00
Speaker 2: you always had guys coming back to visit. And after
40:05
Speaker 2: a while, that kind of dropped off. So you have
40:07
Speaker 2: to kind of continue to let guys know that practice
40:10
Speaker 2: is open and you're welcome to come back. A lot
40:12
Speaker 2: of the guys leave and become disconnected and don't come back.
40:16
Speaker 2: And that's a huge problem. We've got to do a
40:18
Speaker 2: better job through the university because once I'm in the ground,
40:23
Speaker 2: I just don't know if it's a priority with them.
40:26
Speaker 2: I think it's a necessary evil, but I don't know
40:28
Speaker 2: if it's a priority.
40:31
Speaker 1: You've probably spent more time celebrating other people's contributions to
40:34
Speaker 1: Florida football than ever talking about your own. But I
40:37
Speaker 1: want to ask you something. When people look back at
40:40
Speaker 1: your life and your relationship with this program, what do
40:43
Speaker 1: you hope that they'll remember about Pizza Bell?
40:46
Speaker 2: Well, everybody is very, very kind to me. They're good.
40:52
Speaker 2: They're always super positive about what I've done. So I
40:57
Speaker 2: can go to my grave knowing I'm in the Players
40:59
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame, so that's all that matters to me
41:01
Speaker 2: is the players respect what I've done, not only for
41:05
Speaker 2: them in the equipment, uh aspect of it but after
41:10
Speaker 2: after they got done playing looking out for their best
41:13
Speaker 2: interests and there is no hidden agenda with me what
41:18
Speaker 2: you see is what you get and you know i'm
41:21
Speaker 2: i'm very very outgoing and i'll you know if you
41:24
Speaker 2: screw up i'm gonna tell you you're screwing up and
41:28
Speaker 2: i just think that as an equipment guy you learn
41:32
Speaker 2: to take care of these guys they become a brother
41:35
Speaker 2: to you And you don't want to let them down.
41:37
Speaker 2: You don't want to see them get hurt. And the
41:40
Speaker 2: game is very, very... Back in my day, the game
41:42
Speaker 2: was much more physical than it is today. And, you know,
41:45
Speaker 2: I can remember putting a collar on your father's shoulder
41:48
Speaker 2: pads because he had a bad neck. I can remember,
41:50
Speaker 2: you know, fitting helmets for guys that had issues. Rob
41:53
Speaker 2: Roberts kept getting the bridge of his nose broken. So
41:56
Speaker 2: I would work on... That until I could get his,
41:59
Speaker 2: you know, where he could play without bleeding from the
42:02
Speaker 2: bridge of his nose getting busted open every time he
42:04
Speaker 2: threw a block. I can remember working with Dr. Cade
42:07
Speaker 2: on the Hydroflow helmet that Gladiator produced. I can remember
42:10
Speaker 2: working with Dr. Cade on the original Gatorade stuff and
42:14
Speaker 2: being one of the crash test dummies, tasting the first
42:17
Speaker 2: formulas of that. I mean, just the opportunities that I've
42:20
Speaker 2: had are priceless to me. Being around guys like Mike Ricketts,
42:24
Speaker 2: who was very successful... in business and has contributed back
42:30
Speaker 2: to GatorMade and made that a viable option for the
42:34
Speaker 2: players and it's a great program and I'm hoping Coach
42:38
Speaker 2: Sumrall will continue to do that. Just all the guys
42:40
Speaker 2: who have contributed and given back and the guys who
42:45
Speaker 2: appreciate what the university's done for them. They could do more.
42:49
Speaker 2: They could always do more but I think it's a
42:51
Speaker 2: 50-50 thing and the players have to involve themselves and
42:55
Speaker 2: really understand how important it is to be part of
43:00
Speaker 2: the program from cradle to grave, from 18 to 65
43:03
Speaker 2: or 70, however long the players are living, you know,
43:08
Speaker 2: until they hit the ground, you know, once again. I
43:10
Speaker 2: think it's important to give back, but I think it's
43:13
Speaker 2: important to stay involved. And that means bringing your family back.
43:18
Speaker 2: That means whether you played a down or whether you
43:20
Speaker 2: started all four years, doesn't matter. You were out there
43:23
Speaker 2: busting your butt, blood, sweat, and tears, And if you
43:26
Speaker 2: put on a uniform, you have my respect. Scholarship, walk on.
43:30
Speaker 2: First team, second team, third team, doesn't matter. If you
43:33
Speaker 2: were able to suit up, you have my respect as
43:36
Speaker 2: a Florida Gator.
43:38
Speaker 1: You know, we talked at the beginning of this about
43:40
Speaker 1: how you were the first equipment manager at Florida to
43:42
Speaker 1: receive a scholarship. Now there's an endowment in your name
43:45
Speaker 1: helping other young people have that same opportunity. How does
43:49
Speaker 1: it feel knowing that something which obviously changed your life
43:53
Speaker 1: as a young man is now part of the legacy
43:55
Speaker 1: that you're leaving behind.
43:56
Speaker 2: Oh, well, you got to give back. I mean, I
43:58
Speaker 2: was lucky enough to be able to do that. And
44:01
Speaker 2: my friend, Sadeer Chatnikar, has raised he's raised about $ 300, 000,
44:07
Speaker 2: so he's been able to go out to other people
44:11
Speaker 2: and he's raised about $ 300, 000, so about six scholarships that
44:16
Speaker 2: we have for the equipment room now, seven actually, and
44:19
Speaker 2: Jeff McGrew is very appreciative and we like giving back,
44:24
Speaker 2: so anybody else that wants to give to the scholarship funds,
44:28
Speaker 2: they're out there for equipment managers and the trainers, these
44:31
Speaker 2: unsung heroes that are there before practice and after the
44:36
Speaker 2: games doing the work to get these guys dressed out
44:39
Speaker 2: the way they need to be and to take care
44:41
Speaker 2: of them, I would be grateful for anybody who wants
44:44
Speaker 2: to give back for equipment manager scholarships. But Coach Dickey
44:47
Speaker 2: was very good to me. He saw what I did,
44:50
Speaker 2: and when time came, he put me on for a scholarship, books, tuition, food,
44:56
Speaker 2: room and board. So it was cool. It was great
44:58
Speaker 2: going to school. Saved my father a lot of money.
45:03
Speaker 2: It was a big deal back in those days.
45:08
Speaker 1: Pete, so there's something I want to say before we finish.
45:10
Speaker 1: I've known you my entire life, and I know firsthand
45:13
Speaker 1: how much this university and these players mean to you.
45:17
Speaker 1: When people write the history of Florida football, they're going
45:20
Speaker 1: to write about the championships and the Heisman winners and
45:22
Speaker 1: the legendary coaches and unforgettable and games. But I think
45:27
Speaker 1: that there are people who are just as important to
45:29
Speaker 1: the history of a program who never scored a touchdown
45:32
Speaker 1: or coached a game and people that made sure that
45:35
Speaker 1: the relationships and the traditions survived from one generation to
45:40
Speaker 1: the next. And I don't think that there is anybody
45:42
Speaker 1: who embodies that more than you. You've spent a lifetime
45:46
Speaker 1: making sure that people never forget the players who came
45:49
Speaker 1: before them. And I think that is so important for
45:53
Speaker 1: people to know your story too. So I just want
45:57
Speaker 1: to say thank you for everything that you have done
45:59
Speaker 1: for Florida football and thank you for coming on and
46:01
Speaker 1: telling everybody a little bit about you.
46:04
Speaker 2: Oh, well, thanks for having me, Allie. It's a pleasure
46:07
Speaker 2: and an honor to be on your, on your podcast
46:09
Speaker 2: as a former broadcaster myself. I enjoy doing this every
46:13
Speaker 2: once in a while. And, uh, it's, it's definitely changed
46:16
Speaker 2: as we were talking about earlier, you can sit down
46:18
Speaker 2: in front of the computer. Now I remember having to
46:20
Speaker 2: go into a studio to, to do television and radio.
46:23
Speaker 2: Now you can do everything from the luxury of your
46:26
Speaker 2: own home and don't even have to wear pants. It's
46:29
Speaker 2: a beautiful thing.
46:30
Speaker 1: I wear pajama pants 90% of the time. That is
46:33
Speaker 1: an absolute fact.
46:35
Speaker 2: It's a beautiful thing.
46:36
Speaker 1: Although I guess I wore pajama pants when I did
46:38
Speaker 1: radio too, but well, I appreciate you coming and hanging
46:42
Speaker 1: out and I know I will see you in Gainesville
46:44
Speaker 1: real soon.
46:44
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
46:47
Speaker 1: Thank you so much to our partners over at PrizePix.
46:49
Speaker 1: Don't forget, new users can download the app, play a
46:52
Speaker 1: $ 5 lineup, and use our code. It's on the screen.
46:54
Speaker 1: It's HMA.
46:56
Speaker 3: And if you win, you'll get $ 150 in lineups instantly.
46:59
Speaker 1: We appreciate PrizePix for all their support, and I appreciate
47:01
Speaker 1: you for tuning in. As always, go Gators!