Florida Gator Gameday Traditions

This video shows the (American) football traditions at the University of Florida which includes the pregame Orange and Blue chant, Albert and Alberta the Aligator mascots as Mr Two Bits, the Gator Runout, as well as the We are the boys from Old Florida song at the end of the Third Quarter, an Alma Mater and fight song at the end of the game. I'll do my best to try and explain how most of our traditions were given to us.

First off, we've been playing football since 1906 and even earlier as a club sport. Florida Field wasn't built until the late 20's when Dr John Tygart, President of UF, formed the UAA (University Athletic Assn) which provided the funds through private donations to build the original stadium which comprised the lower sections of the east stands, north endzone, and west stands. Then came the west stands with a new press box, then the west stands, then the south endzone, then the north endzone, plus two more expansions and renovations of the sky boxes and press boxes. We tale pride in saying that not one federal, state, or local tax dollar was used in the building of this stadium.

Our colors and mascot:
they were given to us by a local General Store owner In the early part of the 20th century who wanted to sell college pennants. It's said that he visited the Michie Co when he visited his son at VMI in Virginia. He didn't want to sell what they already were making so they asked him if he wanted some custom made. He told them what our school name was but we had no colors or mascot at that time so his son suggested an aligator appear on the pennant. So he placed the order, and when the pennants came, the word Florida and the aligator were in orange and were on a blue pennant. That is the origin of our colors and mascot.

We are the Boys from Old Florida:
this song is traditionally sung at the end of the third quarter during (American) football games. The fans stand up and throw their arms over the shoulders of the person sitting on either side and sway from side to side while singing. Fans hold the word "togther" at the end for three seconds as well as holding their sway before continuing on with the rest of the song. According to our tradition, this song was written by two UF students, Robert Swanson and John Icenhour for their dance band in 1919. Unfortunately, other schools such as the University of Chicago, University of Nebraska, and the Public School System of Toledo, OH all have similar songs with similar lyrics. Regardless of who wrote it first, it's become part of our gameday tradition since the 1930's.

Mr Two Bits:
This was created by Professor George Edmunson in 1948. This was during the time that's known as the "Golden Error" at the University of Florida. Our teams were almost as bad if not worse than the University of Kentucky's football team is now, we just couldn't do anything right. So George said let's do the old two bits cheer everytime they screw something up and it grew from that point on. Professor George Edmunson, better known as Mr Two Bits, retired at the end of the 2008 season and handed down his now trademark yellow button up shirt, tan suit pants, and Gator neck tie to our mascot, Albert Aligator. George never got paid to do this and he always paid for his season tickets and parking pass. He never really sat in his seat as he would walk from section to section during the game doing his Two Bits cheer.

Florida Field's nickname, The Swamp:
That came in the early 90's when Florida coach and 1966 Heisman Trophy winner Steve Spurrier had just started his career at Florida. It's said that he was looking for a nickname for the stadium. So someone in the athletic dept went digging through all the history of the stadium and school until they found a nite written by Dr John Tygart who was President of the school when the stadium was first being built. It said that the stadium will be built in a "swampy depression near the gym". He showed it to Steve and he liked it and added "Only GATORS get out alive" and that's where the nickname came from. The PA announcer has also been saying "Heeeeeerrrrrreee come the Gators!" when the team runs out of the locker room since the 30's or 40's as well.