Banquet Honors Football Athletes
Saturday, February 7, 2004 | Football
Senior defensive back Keiwan Ratliff received the Ray Graves Award to highlight the Florida football squad's annual banquet, held on Friday evening at the Touchdown Terrace.
Ratliff received the Ray Graves Award, which goes to the squad's Most Valuable Player as selected by his teammates. Free safety Daryl Dixon received the Fergie Ferguson Award, which is presented annually to the senior player (as selected by his teammates) who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage. This season there were two recipients of the Gene Ellenson Most Inspirational Player Award, as wide receiver Carlos Perez and cornerback Johnny Lamar were awarded the honor. The James Kynes Award (outstanding lineman) went to offensive guard Shannon Snell. The Rex Farrior Award winner (team-oriented player) was linebacker Reid Fleming. The John Eibner Award as the top scout team player went to free safety Zephrin Augustine.
Most outstanding player awards were also presented for position areas. Ciatrick Fason was the recipient of the Outstanding Running Back Award and Keiwan Ratliff received the honor for Outstanding Defensive Back. Mike Degory was named the Outstanding Offensive Lineman, while Bobby McCray was the recipient of the Outstanding Defensive Lineman Award. Channing Crowder was the recipient of UF's Outstanding Linebacker Award, while Ben Troupe and Kelvin Kight shared the honor of Outstanding Receiver. Junior kicker Matt Leach was named the Outstanding Special Teams Player.
Quarterback Chris Leak was the recipient of the Freshman Player of the Year, while Ran Carthon and Guss Scott were honored with the True Gator Award. Darrell Lee was the first-ever recipient of the Coaches' Award. Max Starks and Troupe were the three recipients of the Captain Award for Offense, while Dixon and Ratliff received the award for Defense.
LIST OF AWARDS
Ray Graves Award (MVP) Keiwan Ratliff
Fergie Ferguson Award (Outstanding Leadership) Daryl Dixon
Gene Ellenson Award (Most Inspirational Player) Carlos Perez and Johnny Lamar
James Kynes Award (Outstanding Lineman) Shannon Snell
Rex Farrior Award (Team-Oriented Player) Reid Fleming
John Eibner Award (Outstanding Scout Team Player) Zephrin Augustine
Captain Award Offense- Ben Troupe and Max Starks
Defense- Daryl Dixon and Keiwan Ratliff
Coaches' Award Darrell Lee
True Gator Award Ran Carthon and Guss Scott
Outstanding Freshman Chris Leak
Most Outstanding Player Awards
Running Back Ciatrick Fason
Offensive Lineman Mike Degory
Defensive Back Keiwan Ratliff
Defensive Line Bobby McCray
Receiver Ben Troupe and Kelvin Kight
Special Teams Matt Leach
Linebacker Channing Crowder
END OF REPORT
