Five Gator Football Players to Take Part in Summer Commencement Ceremonies
Friday, August 6, 2010 | Football
Five University of Florida football players will be among a total of 19 Gator student-athletes who will be earning their degrees in commencement this weekend on the UF campus. Florida's five football summer graduates will join the eight spring and 11 fall graduates to tally 24 total 2009-10 Gator football grads.
In all, 86 Florida student-athletes who have played for Coach Meyer have graduated, including all 13 seniors from the 2008 National Championship team.
Earl Everett (Webster, Fla.), a first-team All-SEC linebacker on the 2006 national championship team, will be graduating with a degree in anthropology. Everett (2003-06) was named to the watch list for the Chuck Bednarik Award for Outstanding Defensive Player of the Year and the Butkus Award his senior year. Everett is perhaps best remembered by the Gator Nation for his memorable takedown of Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith without his helmet on in the 2007 BCS National Championship Game victory over Ohio State.
Former Gator offensive lineman Jim Barrie (Tampa, Fla.) joins Everett after being a part of the winningest senior class in SEC football history. Barrie's class (2006-09) worked its way into the UF and SEC record books, accumulating a 47-7 record in four years while guiding the Gators to three SEC Eastern Division titles, two SEC Championship titles and two National Championship titles.
The lone current football senior participating in graduation is defensive lineman Gary Beemer (Valrico, Fla.). Beemer has seen action in three career games from since 2008 debut against The Citadel, including two on the 2009 squad that went 13-1 and took home the Allstate Sugar Bowl trophy.
In addition to Everett, Barrie and Beemer, graduates Kyle Pratt (Gainesville, Fla.) and Corey Yarbrough (Glen St. Mary, Fla.) were each a part of national championship squads while attending Florida. Pratt played defensive back on the 2008 national championship team, while Yarbrough was a freshman on the school's first national championship team back in 1996.
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