Longtime Gators fan Brannon remembers Ferguson; new book details Ferguson's life
Monday, August 3, 2015 | Football, Scott Carter
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – In visiting with deep-rooted Gators season-ticket holder Hill Brannon on Thursday, the past was a popular subject.
Brannon is 85 and a 1954 UF graduate. He attended his first Florida football game as a 9-year-old and has been a season-ticket holder since the early 1970s.
First-year Gators head coach Jim McElwain surprised Brannon by dropping by and thanking him for all the years of support.
Brannon beamed and left no doubt he truly appreciated the gesture.
Prior to McElwain's visit, Brannon showed off his "Gators Room" and reflected on more than 75 years as a Florida fan.
His first game was Florida's 21-7 loss to Georgia Tech on Homecoming on Nov. 25, 1939.
Coincidentally, I had recently read an account of the 1939 season in a new book by former Tampa Tribune copy editor Bob D'Angelo titled, "Never Fear: The Life & Times of Forest K. Ferguson Jr."
Most fans have probably only heard of Ferguson because of the Gators' annual Fergie Ferguson Award, given each year to the senior football player who displays "outstanding leadership, character and courage."
Last season's winner was center Max Garcia, now a rookie with the Denver Broncos.
When told of the book about Ferguson, whom he instantly recalled, Brannon took an interest in the topic. He asked where he could get a copy.
Ferguson was a sophomore in 1939 and joined the varsity after a year on the freshman team. According to D'Angelo's extensive research, 15,000 fans joined Brannon and his uncle at Florida Field on that late November day when Georgia Tech visited.
"It was no contest,'' D'Angelo wrote. "The Yellow Jackets trotted out the Statue of Liberty play and several triple reverses to befuddle the Gators. Florida fumbled at its 26 in the game's first minute and Georgia Tech took advantage, with Johnny Bosch completing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Bobby Pair."
However, the Gators did tie the game when Tommy Harrison threw a 25-yard pass to Ferguson.
D'Angelo explains what followed: "Fergie lateraled to Julius 'Mush' Battista, who ran the rest of the way to score … but that was the Gators' last gasp."
I forgot to ask Brannon about perhaps the most memorable part of his first Gators game.
The following paragraph from the book provides the details:
The best aerial show of the game might have been put on by a student, identified as 18-year-old Morris A. Young of Jacksonville, who climbed one of the stadium's light towers during halftime. The freshman stayed airborne for more than 30 minutes, and "kept the big crowd gasping by daring antics that would have been a credit to a trapeze performer in the circus." Four men tried to reach Young, but the student kicked at the heads of anyone who drew near. Sometime during the third quarter, another student climbed the tower, struggled with the aspiring acrobat and tied Young securely, lowering him down to the ground. Gainesville police chief J.B. Clements booked Young on a charge of drunk and disorderly conduct.
As first games go, Brannon's may not have delivered a Florida victory but did provide ample entertainment.
Meanwhile, Ferguson was one of 17 sophomores to earn a letter on that '39 team that finished 5-5-1. Two years later Ferguson was named a First Team All-American, only the second player in school history behind Dale Van Sickle in 1928.
For more on Ferguson check out the book, which is well-researched and introduces Ferguson in a more in-depth way than ever before.
The back cover reads:
The story of Forest K. Ferguson Jr. is one of athletic greatness at Stuart High School and the University of Florida. "Fergie" was a World War II hero who distinguished himself on D-Day, and paid for it dearly as his promising career – and life – were cut short by his sacrifices.
Brannon's copy is in the mail.
