Probably my favorite year as a Gator fan. I did get to attend the conference winning game at Lexington. That was the coldest game I've ever been to. Good times back at the Hilton that night as I traded a Gator hat to the bartender for free drinks all night. The flight back to Florida was miserable as I had one of the worse hangovers of my life. We flew into Melbourne and immediately checked into a hotel and I slept for about 8-9 hours. Go Gators!!
On 8/28/2024 10:14 AM, Shane Ford wrote:
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The 51-year wait was over, and Florida's Eastern Airlines charter descended from the North Florida skies on the evening of Nov. 17, 1984.
The Gators had won at Kentucky, 25-17, earlier that day and on the trip home, the pilot delivered a special message that prompted an in-flight celebration they still recall as if it were yesterday.
"It was just a great feeling that we finally did it,'' said Billy Hinson, a starting offensive lineman that season. "It made it even more of a great experience."
The announcement that caused the Gators to transform their flight home into a block party: No. 9 LSU, which fifth-ranked Florida tied in the second game of the season, had lost at Mississippi State. Florida's win at Kentucky, coupled with LSU's loss in Starkville, clinched UF's first Southeastern Conference championship since the league was formed in 1933.
Ricky Nattiel, a standout sophomore receiver on the '84 team who would play six seasons with the NFL's Denver Broncos, holds the memory tight 40 years later.
"It had never been done, first and foremost,'' Nattiel said. "We just erupted on the plane, and of course, the town just went wild the whole night."
The Gators saw how wild it was when the pilot, aware of what was happening at Florida Field, buzzed the stadium twice before landing at Gainesville Regional Airport.
The players couldn't believe their eyes.
"There were thousands of people in the stadium waiting for us,'' Hinson said. "There were a lot of fans who embraced that win because they felt what we felt. We always had talent on paper. It didn't look like we would lose a game, but historically, there would always be one or two that we would lose until that year.
"We came together like we had never done before. That's what it really came down to."
The 1984 Gators will soon come together again.
The University Athletic Association announced Tuesday that it is welcoming back Florida's first on-field SEC championship team for the Oct. 19 home game against Kentucky. The team members will participate in Gator Walk and be recognized on the field during the game.
"We are excited to welcome the 1984 Gators football team back to campus for the Kentucky game and Homecoming weekend,'' UF athletic director Scott Stricklin said. "It will be a wonderful opportunity to recognize them for their special accomplishments while allowing them the opportunity to reconnect with their teammates and friends."
The 1984 season is one of the most memorable in program history for those who lived it.
The Gators opened the season in Tampa with a 32-20 loss to Miami in the first college football night game ever televised by ESPN. Seven days later, they tied LSU during the home opener. Florida beat Tulane the following week at Florida Field, but with an ongoing NCAA investigation into the program, head coach Charley Pell resigned after Week 3.
Enter assistant coach Galen Hall, the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach working with a freshman walk-on named Kerwin Bell from tiny Mayo, Fla. Hall was named interim head coach, and the Gators took off with Bell emerging as one of the top quarterbacks in school history.
The Gators reeled off six consecutive wins under Hall, including a 27-0 drubbing of Georgia, before landing in Lexington ranked No. 5 at 7-1-1. LSU was 7-1-1 and ranked ninth. By the end of that chilly and overcast day at Commonwealth Stadium, the Gators had taken care of their part by beating the Wildcats behind six field goals from Bobby Raymond and an interception by Adrian White with less than two minutes remaining. Mississippi State then lent a hand two hours later to give the Gators the outright SEC title. Hall was officially named head coach after the victory.
Florida beat Florida State in the regular-season finale and started the 1985 season 7-0-1 as Hall began his tenure with a 16-0-1 record until a loss to Georgia.
"I can compare that team to any team that has played at Florida, and there have been some good ones, no question," Nattiel said. "There was a lot of NFL talent on that team. I'm being biased, but at the same time, I'm being realistic — that team is one of the best teams to ever play at the University of Florida on sheer talent alone."
Hinson came to Florida from the tiny town of Hilliard, north of Jacksonville, near the Georgia border. He grew up a Gators fan and understood then and now what winning the program's first SEC title after so many close calls meant.
"The term 'wait till next year' started with us. It started with the Gators,'' Hinson said. "We had a lot of talent on that team, but what was missing was that intangible, that connectedness, and it all came together in that Kentucky game when we knew our backs were against the wall and this was our chance to win.
"I think a lot of that history has been forgotten. We were undefeated in the SEC. Through the probation and all the allegations that were happening at the time, it was just a wonderful experience for our team. A lot of things transpired after that, but at that time, that Kentucky game was definitely the highlight of our career."
Nattiel and Hinson hope to see many former teammates return to Florida Field for the Kentucky game. Forty years later, they have a lot to celebrate and want to introduce younger generations of fans to Florida's first SEC championship team.
"This is going to be great. Number one, it proves that Gators don't forget about our past,'' Hinson said. "We embrace that. The foundation, the legacy is still there. I think this is a great opportunity to show the present team that, 'Hey, we don't forget about our teams.' This shows them a lot of things that can benefit the present team. There was a lot of adversity. It was tough. We put it all to the side and just came together and tried to win every game."
Nattiel calls Gainesville home and occasionally shows up to watch the Gators practice. The program has reached unimaginable heights since that flight home in 1984.
He said if some of his teammates have felt forgotten over the years, this is an opportunity for them to be remembered in a special way.
"I'm hoping this kind of breaks the mold and starts the mending,'' he said. "It's the best institution in the world. I love it to death. That will never change for me personally, but everyone is different. I hope we show up in big numbers, and I hope they start showing up more."
Sent from Shane's iPhone
Go Gators!
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