Ben Hill Griffin Stadium - Florida Field Traditions

Florida Field Traditions

Like many other college football venues, the Swamp has its own unique features and gameday traditions:

• Commemorated on the facade of the south end zone are the years of each of the team's Southeastern Conference championships and its 1996, 2006 and 2008 National Championships. Also included are tributes to the school's three Heisman Trophy winners, Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel and Tim Tebow.

• Located on the north end zone facade, the Ring of Honor commemorates the greatest players and coaches in Gator football history. Current members are Wilber Marshall, Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, Emmitt Smith, and Jack Youngblood.

• In April 2011, large bronze statues of Heisman Trophy winners Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel, and Tim Tebow were placed and dedicated outside the west side of the stadium along Gale Lemerand Drive

• Painted on the four corners of the stadium are large messages stating "This is . . . THE SWAMP" (previously read ". . . FLORIDA FIELD" before the mid-1990s), "This is . . . GATOR COUNTRY", and "Home of the . . . FLORIDA GATORS."

• Entertainment on game days includes the "Pride of the Sunshine", the University of Florida's marching band. The Pride was the first marching band in Florida. For many years, it was recognized for its very large bass drum, known as the "Biggest Boom in Dixie." The band plays on the field for pregame and halftime and also plays instrumental version of the University of Florida fight song, "The Orange and Blue," after every Gator score.

• Albert and Alberta, one of the few mascot couples in major college sports.

• Right before the team enters the field, a short intro is played on the large video screens. A group of (real) alligators are shown gathering in a murky swamp while ominous music plays. Then the camera zooms into the gaping jaws of a large alligator while a deep voice intones "The Swamp . . . Only Gators get out alive!" as the football team takes the field.

• Jim Finch, the public address announcer at the stadium from 1966 through 2001, was known for his famously long "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeere come the Gators!" call delivered in powerful baritone as the Gators ran onto Florida Field before each game, and for his succinct and even-handed style of announcing the plays during the game. Finch died in 2002, but an audio recording of his distinctive entrance call has been used on occasion since

• George Edmondson (a.k.a. "Mr. Two Bits"), wearing his trademark yellow oxford shirt, blue seersucker trousers, orange-and-blue tie, and black-and-white saddle shoes, traveled around the stands for almost sixty years leading fans in the old "Two Bits" cheer ("Two bits! Four bits! Six bits! A dollar! All for the Gators, stand up and holler!"). Edmondson began the tradition in 1949 and "retired" to become a regular fan after his fiftieth season in 1998. However, he couldn't stay in his seat and continued to lead the cheer during pre-game festivities and (occasionally) in the stands during games. On November 22, 2008, at the last home game of the season, Mr. Two Bits was again honored with a retirement ceremony.

• Fans sway by rows while singing "We are the Boys from old Florida" at the end of the third quarter. (The University of Florida was an exclusively all-male school from 1905 to 1947.)

• Gator fans join in on shout-outs and chants such as "ORANGE" (yelled by students, mostly in the East and South stands) and "BLUE" (yelled by alumni, mostly in the West and North stands). During the pre-game, this cheer is led by Richard Johnston (also known as "Mike Man" or "Mr. Orange and Blue"), a former cheerleader who has been the pre-game emcee since 1984.

• For many years, the ship's bell of the battleship USS Florida (BB-30) was mounted at the North end zone wall of the stadium, to be rung by a nearby fan immediately upon the conclusion of a Gators victory. After the North end zone expansion in 1991, the bell was moved to the north end zone concourse for display, but its clapper was removed.

• When Steve Spurrier became the Gators' head football coach in 1990, he revived the tradition of fans and players together singing the University of Florida Alma Mater after the conclusion of home football games. Urban Meyer added the singing of "The Orange and Blue," the Gators' fight song, in 2005.