The 100 greatest Gators

[Escambia94]

Here are the 100 greatest Gators, sorted from #1 to #100. ​

1. Steve Spurrier (Ring of Honor, Gator Great, All American, Heisman '66, coached Heisman winner Danny Wuerffel, 83% W-L record at Florida (122-27-1), 6-5 in bowl games [moved up to #1], SEC POY '66, Florida-Georgia HOF, UPI POY '66, Fergie Ferguson Award)
2. Tim Tebow (All American, All SEC, Heisman '07 (first sophomore), AP POY '07, Davey O'Brien Award '07, Maxwell Award '07 '08, SEC POY '08, QB of the Year '07, Manning Award '08, Draddy Trophy '09, member of 2006 & 2008 National Championship teams, SEC records: (tied) most TDs/ game (7), 55 TDs/season (33 passing, 22 rushing), 145 career TDs, 12232 career yards, 4181 yards in one season, 88.6% completion average in a game, 170.79 season passer efficiency, 23 rushing TDs in one season, future Gator Great)
3. Danny Wuerffel (Ring of Honor, Gator Great, Heisman Trophy '96, Draddy Trophy '96, Johnny Unitas Award '96, Maxwell Award '96, Walter Camp Award '96, QB of the Year Award '96, Florida-Georgia HOF, Florida Gators Team of the Century, NCAA record passer rating, NCAA record TD%, SEC record 7.1 YPP, 144 TD passes)
4. Emmitt Smith (Ring of Honor, Gator Great, Unanimous All American, All SEC, SEC MVP '89, 58 Gator records, Gator rushing leader*, NFL Hall of Fame)
5. Jack Youngblood (Ring of Honor, Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, Gator record 14 sacks '69, NCAA Lineman of the Year '70)
6. Wilber Marshall (Ring of Honor, Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, Defensive POY '83, 1st team "Team of the Century" and "Defensive Player of the Century" [Gainesville Sun], NCAA HOF)
7. Urban Meyer (Coached 2006 & 2008 NC teams, 65-15 81.25% overall/ 36-12 75% SEC/ 5-1 83.33% bowl record at UF, coached Heisman winner Tim Tebow, recruited and coached best team in Gator history, future Gator Great)
8. Ray Graves (Gator Great, College Football Hall of Fame, former UF athletic director. 69% W-L record (70-31-4), 4-1 (80%) in bowl games, coached Heisman winner Steve Spurrier & Jack Youngblood)
9. Rex Grossman (Consensus All American, All SEC, AP Natl POY, SEC POY '01, future Gator Great)
10. Errict Rhett (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, Florida's all-time leading rusher, 1994 Sugar Bowl MVP)
11. Wes Chandler (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF)
12. Fred Taylor (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF)
13. John Reaves (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, Fergie Ferguson Award, Sammy Baugh Trophy, NCAA record* 7581 yds career passing, SEC career record 56 TDs)
14. Carlos "the Cuban Comet" Alvarez (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, College Football HOF, Florida-Georgia HOF, Florida Gators All-Century Team, Gator record - 2563 career receiving yds)
15. Dale Van Sickel (Gator Great, first Gator All American, College Football HOF) and Charlie LaPradd (Gator Great, second Gator All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, former walk-on)
16. Cris Collinsworth (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Academic All American, Florida Gator record longest pass play of 96 yds, ESPN and HBO sports analyst, Super Bowl player)
17. Ike Hilliard (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF)
18. Reidel Anthony (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, 1996 NC, Gator season record 18 TD receiving)
19. Shane Matthews (Gator Great, All SEC, 2nd team All American, SEC POY '90 '91, Florida-Georgia HOF, Gator record* career passing yards)
20. Kerwin Bell (Gator Great, All SEC, Honorable Mention All American, SEC POY '84, Florida-Georgia HOF, Fergie Ferguson Award)
21. Scot Brantley (Gator Great, All SEC, Honorable Mention All American, Florida-Georgia HOF)
22. Kevin Carter (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF, Florida Gator All-Century Team [Gainesville Sun])
23. Alex Brown (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, SEC Def. POY '01)
24. Brad Culpepper (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Draddy Trophy)
25. Trace Armstrong (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Gator record 19 TFL/season, Florida Gators All-Century Team [Gainesville Sun])
26. Keiwan Ratliff (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, SEC Defensive POY, Gator MVP, Gator season record holder for INTs - 9, punt return yards - 860, INTs in a game - 3)
27. Huey Richardson (Gator Great, All American, All SEC)
28. David Galloway Sr (Gator Great, All American, All SEC)
29. Louis Oliver (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Fergie Ferguson Award)
30. Larry Dupree (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Gator record - 31 carries/game)
31. Joe Haden (Unanimous All American, All SEC, National Defensive POY, 2008 NC, future Gator Great)
32. Reggie Nelson (Consensus All American, All SEC, 2006 NC, future Gator Great)
33. Jacquez Green (Consensus All American, All SEC, 1996 NC, future Gator Great)
34. Maurkice Pouncey (Consensus All American, All SEC, 2008 NC, Rimington Trophy, future Gator Great) and Mike Pouncey (All American, All SEC, 2008 NC, future Gator Great)
35. Brandon Spikes (Consensus All American, All SEC, Gator record holder - INT TDs, future Gator Great)
36. David Little (Gator Great, Consensus All American, All SEC, Fergie Ferguson Award, Gator career record holder for tackles - 475)
37. Charlie Casey (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Fergie Ferguson Award)
38. Larry Smith (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Fergie Ferguson Award)
39. Steve Tannen (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Fergie Ferguson Award)
40. Sammy Green (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Gator season record holder - 202 tackles in a season)
41. Jarvis Williams (Gator Great, All American, All SEC)
42. Chris Doering (Gator Great, All SEC, 2nd team All American, Florida-Georgia HOF, SEC record 31 TD/season, "the Catch '93")
43. Willie Jackson (Gator Great, Honorable Mention All American, All SEC, Florida-Georgia HOF)
44. Alonzo Johnson (All American, All SEC, Florida All-Time Team [Miami Herald], 2nd team Florida Gators All-Century Team [Gainesville Sun], top 3 Gator records - TFL & sacks)
45. Ricky "the Rocket" Nattiel (Gator Great, All SEC, 2nd team All American, Florida-Georgia HOF, Fergie Ferguson Award, Super Bowl player)
46. Lawrence Wright (Gator Great, All SEC, 2nd team All American, Jim Thorpe Award, 1996 NC, Florida-Georgia HOF)
47. Tommy Durrance (Gator Great, All SEC, Gator top 10 rushing TDs)
48. Lee McGriff (Gator Great, All SEC)
49. Neal Anderson (Gator Great, All SEC, Hon. All American)
50. Nat Moore (Gator Great, All SEC, Hon. Mention All American, Florida-Georgia HOF, played on two super bowls)
51. Jeff Mitchell (Gator Great, All SEC, 1996 NC)
52. Tom Shannon (Gator Great, Gator Bowl '62 MVP, Gator record holder - completion percentage)
53. David Williams (Gator Great, All SEC, 2nd team All American)
54. Rick Casares (Gator Great, All SEC, scored first bowl TD for Florida)
55. Glenn Cameron (Gator Great, All SEC)
56. Jimmy Dubose (Gator Great, SEC POY '75)
57. John L. Williams (Gator Great, Hon. All American, 2nd team All SEC)
58. Larry Libertore (Gator Great, 2nd team All SEC)
59. James Jones (Gator Great, "the Catch '82")
60. "The Great Wall of Florida"
    1. Lomas Brown (Gator Great, All American, All SEC, Jacobs Trophy)
    2. Jeff Zimmerman (All American, All SEC)
    3. Crawford Ker (JUCO All American, 2nd team All SEC)
    4. Phil Bromley (All SEC)
    5. Billy Hinson
    6. Scott Trimble
61. Forest K. "Fergie" Ferguson (Gator Great, namesake of the Fergie Ferguson Award, US Army Distinguished Service Cross); Walter "Tiger" Mayberry (Gator Great, Marine Corps ace, died in POW camp)
62. Jevon Kearse (All American, All SEC, SEC Defensive POY '98)
63. Clifford Charlton (All American, All SEC, Gator top 5 record holder - FF, TFL, QB sacks)
64. Jack Jackson (All American, All SEC, 1994 SEC POY)
65. Fred Weary (All American, All SEC, 1996 NC, Gator record holder - INTs)
66. Jabar Gaffney (All American, All SEC, Paul Warfield Award)
67. Lito Sheppard (All American, All SEC)
68. Jarvis Moss (All American, 2006 NC)
69. Mike Degory (All American, All SEC)
70. Percy Harvin (SEC Freshman of the year, All SEC 2nd team, 2006 SEC Championship MVP, Gator record 32 TDs for receiver)
71. Chris Leak (2007 BCS MVP, 2006 NC, NCAA record, SEC All Freshman Team, tied Gator record 6 TD/game, Gator career passing yardage leader)
72. Ahmad Black (All SEC, 2008 NC, NCAA and SEC record - INT, Outback Bowl MVP, future Gator Great)
73. Jeff Chandler (All SEC, 2nd team All American, Gator MVP, Gator career scoring leader - 368 points)
74. Gerard Warren (All SEC, 2nd team All American)
75. Johnny Rutledge (All SEC, 1996 NC)
76. Taylor Jacobs (All SEC, Orange Bowl MVP)
77. Travis McGriff (All SEC, 3rd team All American, 1996 NC)
78. Zach Piller (All SEC, 1996 NC)
79. Ray McDonald (All SEC, 1996 NC)
80. Tony Lilly (All SEC, 2nd team All American)
81. Allen Trammell (All SEC)
82. Darrell Jackson (All SEC, 3rd team All American)
83. Cooper Carlisle (All SEC, 1996 NC)
84. Godfrey Myles (All SEC)
85. Adrian White (All SEC)
86. Jeff Roth (All SEC)
87. Reggie McGrew (All SEC, 1996 NC)
88. James Bates (All SEC, captain of 1996 NC team)
89. Derrick Harvey (2007 BCS MVP, 2nd team All SEC, 2006 NC)
90. Don Gaffney - first black Gator QB
91. Leonard George and Willie Jackson Sr - first black players to sign with Florida
92. Brandon Siler (2nd team All SEC, 3rd team All American, 2006 NC)
93. Reche Caldwell (2nd team All SEC, Hon. All American)
94. Cornelius Ingram (2nd team All SEC)
95. Andre "Bubba" Caldwell (Gator record - season receptions)
96. Lindy Infante (Distinguished Letter winner, NFL coach)
97. Louis Murphy (2006 NC, 2008 NC)
98. Elijah Williams (1996 NC)
99. Deshawn Wynn (2006 NC)
100. Wayne Pease (NCAA record 70.2% completions, "the Catch '82")
101. George "Mr. Two Bits" Edmonson
102. Bill Corry, Hubert Schucht, Harold Rowe, Buck Schindler, Elmer Ricau

 

[DRU2012]

We've been here before, my friend. It'll get worse before it gets better, as I recall...

 

[Escambia94]

137.5 days...

 

[DRU2012]

137.5 days...

Guess we'll look to you to again come up with something to pass those days in some way, E-...

 

[Escambia94]

Over on the other forum, the fans are talking about the same crap--we should play Miami every year, Urban Meyer should be removed from Gator history, we should change uniforms every week, etc. I need to come up with different topics.

 

[DRU2012]

Escambia94
Yeah, I'm with you all the way on this--I don't agree with more than half that stuff but I just don't care enough at this point to get me going in any way that effectively "passes the time". I'm sure you'll find an "angle", but meanwhile I too will give it some thought, maybe throw some ideas out there...

 

[robdog]

Nice, glad to see you started this again! You have your list still from last year? Think you can do it without repeats?

And at least the draft is coming up soon, even if you don't like the NFL at least they will be talking about football 24/7.

 

[Escambia94]

Nice, glad to see you started this again! You have your list still from last year? Think you can do it without repeats?

And at least the draft is coming up soon, even if you don't like the NFL at least they will be talking about football 24/7.

I can do the countdown again with new jersey numbers for some. Even last year I avoided using Tim Tebow at 15 days out, because I used Wayne Peace.

A new idea would be to count down the 100 greatest Gators, regardless of jersey number. That would involve a lot of input from the five main people that post on the forum.

 

[DRU2012]

robdog, Escambia94, Leakfan12, InkedAdrenaline, CaliZona_Gator (Let's see, who else? I'll be calling out a few more in the days ahead)

OK! (sound of me rubbing my hands together--something like, "Smack/risharisharisha" ) Let's roll up our sleeves and get TO this! Lf, IA, and anyone ELSE who's following GE through "the lean days", this is YOUR challenge too...
Oh, and E-: Personally, EITHER approach works for me, but the "100 Greatest Gators" is especially provocative, on first blush--but it'll be the tougher one, too, requiring more lay-out and fore-thought, I'd wager...since you'll be "pointman" on this project, I figure it's your call.

 

[Escambia94]

I changed the title of this thread to reflect the new direction of this thread--to discuss the top Gators. I would like to get to 100, but it will take about 137 days to dig up 100 players. Let us start with the top 30 40 100 (thanks Leakfan12) that come to mind and debate.

EDIT: List moved to post #1 of this thread.

 

[robdog]

My problem is that I am really only good with players from the last 5 years or so. You pretty much have them all on the list already.

 

[Escambia94]

robdog: I can recall back to about 1980. DRU2012 is as old as dirt, so he can help us out with the older Gators. For example, I am unsure of where John Reaves should be exactly, but I have a strong feeling that he should be right at #20. I just went back and bumped up anyone in the Ring of Honor. I will need to cite stats on everyone to justify rankings, so expect post #10 to get edited repeatedly as I gather more information.

Some of the players are not eligible for the University of Florida Athletic Association Hall of Fame as a Gator Great, so they will be placed where we *think* they should be once they are in the Hall of Fame.

 

[Leakfan12]

Over on the other forum, the fans are talking about the same crap--we should play Miami every year, Urban Meyer should be removed from Gator history, we should change uniforms every week, etc. I need to come up with different topics.

I like to add two cents to those topics sorry Escambia94
Don't care (besides SEC is tough enough)
Nope but Charley Pell should be (Meyer did win two titles and put the Gators ahead of the Noles) plus Pell (and the f--king NCAA) cost the Gators two titles.
Don't care just as long it's Orange and Blue (Maybe Green but not black).

Also Here's some names to add
Chris Leak: QB of the 2006 title team and shy a touchdown from tying Peyton Manning and holds UF passing records
Travis McGriff
Taylor Jacobs
Alozno Johnson: two time 1st team AA
Clifford Chartlon
Louis Murphy
Jarvis Moss: Ask Troy Smith
Derrick Harvey: Ditto
Hate to said Urban Meyer but hard to ignore a head coach that did win two titles (put him in the bottom)
Pouncey twins
Jack Jackson
Gerard Warren
Ray Graves: who knows where the Gators would be without him
Nat Moore: played on two super bowls
Larry Smith
Steve Tannen
Darrell Jackson
Jabar Gaffney
Reche Caldwell

 

[Escambia94]

I like to add two cents to those topics sorry Escambia94
Don't care (besides SEC is tough enough)
Nope but Charley Pell should be (Meyer did win two titles and put the Gators ahead of the Noles) plus Pell (and the f--king NCAA) cost the Gators two titles.
Don't care just as long it's Orange and Blue (Maybe Green but not black).

Also Here's some names to add
Chris Leak: QB of the 2006 title team and shy a touchdown from tying Peyton Manning and holds UF passing records
Travis McGriff
Taylor Jacobs
Alozno Johnson: two time 1st team AA
Clifford Chartlon
Louis Murphy
Jarvis Moss: Ask Troy Smith
Derrick Harvey: Ditto
Hate to said Urban Meyer but hard to ignore a head coach that did win two titles (put him in the bottom)
Pouncey twins
Jack Jackson
Gerard Warren
Ray Graves: who knows where the Gators would be without him
Nat Moore: played on two super bowls
Larry Smith
Steve Tannen
Darrell Jackson
Jabar Gaffney
Reche Caldwell

Right now I am working on the older players (other than Tebow...the acknowledged #1 by most), but all of the younger guys will be added after we sort the old guys. I think Chris Leak will go in the top five.

Urban Meyer will probably be in the top 10 or 20. I anticipate lots of debate. The rankings are not supposed to be based on emotion. Pell and Hall probably should be higher, but my own emotions are keeping them at the bottom for now.

Gerard Warren is an older guy, so I will insert him now around 40.

 

[DRU2012]

Escambia94, robdog, Leakfan12
(laughing) I don't think I've got "dirt" beat, but I HAVE been a Gator since I was 4 yrs' old (we'd just moved back to the States, and they were the first team I saw running onto the field in watching my first football game), which DOES put me past half-a-century of thrills and frustration...I WILL throw some by-now more obscure names out there if you want to go past 100, maybe even shoot for 137--but it'll take a little contemplation. Here's my first: Tyrone Young, a tall, rangy and FAST receiver who complemented Collinsworth and helped him not draw triple coverage...Young was the only other nationally known high-rated prospect Dickey managed to bring in the year before he was replaced by Charlie Pell--and he REALLY blossomed his senior year in the "Fun'n'Gun offense" that Shanahan I believe brought in his one season as the Gator OC (Young was already a star for us, of course, but I think Cris C. may have graduated by then).
Let me know if you want to keep going--aside from the "left over days", the then-young men I'm likely to throw in are going to be "borderline stars" that at most "had their moments"...You guys already HAVE the "best of the best".
Which raises an interesting question: Where the heck was I while y'all were working this out? I mean, I look away for what, maybe a day or so, and now I'm left pickin' up the crumbs?

 

[Escambia94]

I still need help sorting the names. If I missed a major name that is worthy of replacing one on this list, I can swap some out. I can also save a dozen for honorable mention.

 

[DRU2012]

I don't think coming up with "replacements" is all that likely--more like "below-the-top-100" or that "dozen honorable mentions" (which sounds like a nice little "outlet" in its own right. Stay tuned...)

 

[Leakfan12]

You're missing CI, who could been as good as Hernandez in the NFL but he got hurt over and over. Also Ray Graves was named twice.

 

[Escambia94]

I deleted the duplicate Ray Graves entry and added Cornelius Ingram. Later on I will start sorting the Gators. If you have strong feelings about moving a ranking, feel free to post your recommendations. This is a group effort.

 

[Escambia94]

Bump.