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| 2000
Inductee Steve
Spurrier | |
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On an autumn Saturday in
1966, Steve Spurrier, the heralded senior quarterback at the University of Florida,
rallied his Gators to within field goal range against heated rival Auburn. With
time rapidly ticking down, then-Florida Coach Ray Graves, went for the field goal.
Only this time, the kicker was not Florida's normal booter. It was the ever-confident
Spurrier. The kick was 40 yards, long and true. | The
Gators pulled off a 30-27 miracle win that caused legendary Auburn coach, Ralph
"Shug" Jordan, to refer to him as "Steve Superior." Less than two weeks later,
Spurrier, the product of Johnson City, Tennessee, captured the Heisman Trophy.
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a player rallying from behind or as a coach calling one of his wide-open pass
plays, Steve Spurrier has always displayed what journalists described as "the
nerve of a riverboat gambler." The
five-time SEC Coach of the Year from the University of Florida began his athletic
career at Science High School in Johnson City, where he was All-State in football,
basketball and baseball and prep All-American in football in 1962. |
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baseball team won two straight state titles, and in three seasons of pitching,
he never lost a game. As the Florida Gator quarterback, Spurrier guided his team
to two major bowls in three seasons.
In the Sugar Bowl game following the 1965 season, he set six passing and total
offense records and became the only player from the losing team to be voted the
game's MVP. He was the Heisman Trophy winner in 1966, and the first-round draft
choice of the San Francisco 49ers in '67. Following
ten years in the NFL, Spurrier coached Tampa Bay in the USFL for three seasons,
Duke University for three, then returned to his Alma Mater as the head coach. |
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