Norm Carlson Looks Back... - The Great Wall
Thursday, September 11, 2003 | Football
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| The Great Wall (L-R) Crawford Ker, Jeff Zimmerman, Phil Bromley, Billy Hinson, Lomas Brown |
Crawford Ker was the final stone in "The Great Wall" on Florida's l984 football team. When a group photo of that famous offensive line was made when the nickname was announced in mid-October, Ker unwittingly acknowledged his role to his teammates.
"Before I got here, "he joked, " You were just a bunch of pebbles."
Although Lomas Brown, Billy Hinson, Phil Bromley, Jeff Zimmerman and Scott Trimble were certainly not "pebbles" among the ranks of offensive linemen, neither were they "The Great Wall" until Ker came along to make its construction complete.
Ker was a native of Dunedin, Florida who came to UF by way of Western Arizona Junior College. He got back to his home state because his father, George, produced resumes on young Crawford and mailed them around the country to top colleges. Florida coaches went out to Arizona, liked what they saw and heard, and offered him a scholarship.
"I was about 6-3 and 140 pounds when I went to Dunedin High School, and the talent was too good at quarterback or running back, so I quit playing football and worked after school," said Ker.
He also started lifting weights, and he weighed over 200 pounds by his senior year when he rejoined the football team as a defensive lineman. Ker was good enough to make All-Conference, but not good enough to earn a college scholarship.
So Ker went back to working and lifting weights, bench pressing over 400 pounds, and he was soon up to 255 pounds of muscle. It wasn't long after that when he found himself on scholarship at Western Arizona JC.
Although he started both years, and was named Junior College All-America, major college offers were not exactly pouring in until father George got into the act and mailed resumes to several schools, including the Gators.
"We heard from a lot of the teams-Auburn, Georgia, Nebraska and others-but when Florida offered me a scholarship that's where I wanted to go," Ker said. "We moved to the state when I was in the sixth grade and it really was home to me. My parents lived in Dunedin, and it was easy to get up to Gainesville for the games, and Florida had an outstanding program."
Ker started some games for the Gators in l983, making progress and getting stronger as the season went along. His bench press increased to 480 on a consistent basis and over 500 at times and his weight increased to over 290 pounds.
"Linemen have got to work in the weightroom and get stronger,"he said. "If you don't do that you really don't have a chance to compete."
By the spring of l984 he was ready to be the final piece in the building of "The Great Wall" at the University of Florida. He teamed with All-American Brown to produce the best pair of tackles in college football that year, and probably the best in Gator history.
Florida's l984 team went 9-1-1, and finished the season ranked third in the nation. The offense was overpowering. The Gators averaged 244.8 rushing yards per game, 5.03 yards per play. They led the league in scoring (31.0), and their 341 points was the second highest in school history.
The Gators outrushed 10 of 11 opponents and eight times over the course of the season a Gator back rushed for 100 yards or more. Neal Anderson, John L. Williams and Lorenzo Hampton rushed for a combined 2,402 yards, the most ever for a trio of Florida backs in a season.
One of the key statistics of that season was the short yardage conversion rate of 70.4% on third down and four or less. That was when "The Great Wall" pushed defenders back and opened holes for the Gator runners.
They were the bookends of an offensive line that also included All-SEC center Bromley, solid veteran guard Hinson and sophomore Zimmerman, who would go on to become an All-America guard in both l985 and l986. Perhaps the finest offensive line in college football that year, they dominated the defensive fronts. All five starters earned first or second team All-SEC accolades. All four upper classmen played in post-season all-star games.
Ker wasn't chosen to the SEC all-conference team. There were too many other linemen who had been around the league much longer and had better name recognition among the voters. Too many of his fellow linemen were already established all-star performers.
However, his talents weren't hidden from NFL scouts. He went in the draft's third round to the Dallas Cowboys and played offensive guard for them from l985-1990. In l991 he played for the Denver Broncos, retiring after that season.
He had the second-longest NFL career of any member of "The Great Wall." Lomas Brown played 18 seasons, finally winning a Super Bowl championship ring with the 2002 Tampa Bay Bucs. Brown retired after last season. He also played in the Super Bowl in 2000 with the New York Giants.
Brown, generally regarded as the finest offensive lineman in UF history, was a first round draft choice by the Detroit Lions in l985. He started every game as a rookie that season and was named to the NFL All-Rookie first team. He was a starter for the Lions from l985-95, started for the Arizona Cardinals from l996-98, the Cleveland Browns in l999 and the New York Giants in 2000-2001.
Every member of "The Great Wall" was from the State of Florida. In addition to Dunedin's Ker, Brown hailed from Miami, Hinson from Hilliard, Bromley from Pensacola, Zimmerman from Orlando and key reserve Trimble was from Lake Brantley.
Norm Carlson recently retired from the University Athletic Association after 40 years of service. Carlson serves as historian for Gator athletics and will contribute a regular column to gatorzone.com.
