Former UF standouts LIto Sheppard, left, and Tim Tebow were inducted into the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame on Friday. (Photo: Dennis Black/GatorVision)
Sheppard Cherishes Honor; Tebow Delivers Message to Gators
Friday, October 27, 2017 | Football, Scott Carter
Heisman winner Tim Tebow and UF All-American Lito Sheppard are the newest Gators in the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame.
Both Sheppard and Tebow were inducted into the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame for their involvement in one of the country's top college football rivalries. Sheppard grew up in Jacksonville and played at Raines High, while Tebow starred at Nease High.
"This is a huge honor,'' said Sheppard, who starred for the Gators from 1999-2001. "This has always been a big moment for me, coming back to my hometown and to get a chance to play in this game. It's wonderful that the city, the community and my family are here to be able to enjoy this moment."Sheppard and Tebow joined former Bulldogs Knowshon Moreno and Randall Godfrey in the 2017 class. The Gators and Bulldogs face each other on Saturday afternoon at EverBank Field, where Friday's induction ceremony was held in front of a packed ballroom.
The unranked Gators (3-3, 3-2) are heavy underdogs against No. 3-Georgia (7-0 4-0). Sheppard went 3-0 against Georgia during his career and Tebow, who played for the Gators from 2006-09, finished 3-1.
Tebow's only loss was in 2007, the year he became the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy. That was the year the Bulldogs won 42-30 and performed their infamous "Gator Stomp" after they scored their first touchdown. The entire Georgia team ran onto the field to celebrate, which did not sit well with the Gators.
"I was on the sidelines talking to Coach [Dan] Mullen when I heard the commotion and I looked up at the Jumbotron, then stood up and walked over there and it started to sink in a little bit,'' Tebow recalled Friday. "I didn't take it that well. At first I thought it was a fight or something, but it was just a celebration to gain your team a little momentum that way, I don't know. At Florida, we try to do that a little differently."
In Tebow's final two seasons at Florida, the Gators outscored Georgia 90-27 in a 49-10 victory in 2008 on the way to the program's third national title, and a 41-17 victory in 2009, Tebow's senior season.
The annual rivalry game on the banks of the St. Johns River runs deep in Tebow's family.
"This game has been such an important part of my life since before I was even born," he said. "It was my parents' first date. My dad took my mom to a Florida-Georgia game. For us, being in Jacksonville, I'd finish a Pop Warner game and rush over here and watch the game, even all those games in the rain.
"Being able to be a part of it as a player and being able to have some really special wins — especially after what they did to us in '07 — to be able to come back and dominate in '08 and '09, that was really special."
The Gators have won three in a row over the Bulldogs but are coming off back-to-back home losses to LSU and Texas A&M to drop out of the national rankings. Meanwhile, Georgia is threatening to run away with the SEC East title under second-year head coach Kirby Smart.
Not many are giving the Gators a chance.
Tebow, also in town for his role as an analyst for the SEC Network, offered a message to the Gators on Friday.
"Remember what this game is about since before you were born. Have pride in what you are doing and take pride in this game because you are representing a lot of orange and blue,'' Tebow said. "You are representing a lot of Gators and a lot of people are going to count you out – me probably in particular, because I'll have to predict the game – so understand what that means and take pride in it and go out there and show you were a four-star for a reason, you were a five-star for a reason and you're a Gator for a reason.
"Play like that. Have purpose in this game, and it's not just to compete. You're not at Florida to compete, you're at Florida to win. Go out there and prove it and show it."
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