Florida Gators

ATLANTA – Terry LeCount's favorite area of the College Football Hall of Fame is at the end of the self-guided interactive adventure through the game's history.
 
This particular spot is on the top floor, through the rotunda immortalizing the Hall's members, adjacent the two-story wall featuring helmets from every college football program. It is a perch where LeCount observes visitors beginning their museum experience on the first floor, where he watches guests admire national championship trophies on the second level, where he chats away with enchanted fans just before they descend three flights of stairs and return to reality.
 
Connecting with people is what LeCount's life is all about these days.
 
The former Gators standout—who played three different positions at Florida but was best known as the 1977 starting quarterback and team leader in total offense, before he went on to play nine NFL seasons as a wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings—is a quality assurance lead at the Hall. Oftentimes he is the first and last face its countless visitors see. LeCount greets them all with a warm smile, a firm handshake, and a welcoming voice to ensure everyone feels as comfortable as they would in their own living room.
 
"This is stealing," LeCount jokes, almost in disbelief he's been paid to do this for the past five years.
 
LeCount traces his affection for people back to his days in Minneapolis. Once he was out of football by the late 1980s, his career cut short mostly due to substance abuse issues (he is now 27 years sober), LeCount was "just trying to find (his) way." A friend noticed how well he interacted with kids. As it turned out, that friend's mother was a school principal. LeCount found himself in a special education class shortly thereafter, working with children diagnosed with down syndrome.
 
It was a rewarding experience for LeCount. And he continued to work at schools in Minneapolis, San Francisco, and Georgia before his wife, who also attended Florida, discovered the Hall's job opening ahead of its reestablishment in Atlanta five years ago.
 
LeCount learned Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl CEO and president Gary Stokan had a hand in the process, and he knew exactly the man to connect him with the folks calling the shots: Doug Dickey, his head coach at Florida.
 
Dickey's visited LeCount twice since his hiring at the Hall. Both occasions were important for LeCount, who made sure to introduce his coach to everyone he worked with.
 
"I still have a picture of him in my living room signing my letter of intent to the University of Florida," LeCount said.
 
LeCount's work at the Hall spawned a number of impromptu reunions with former teammates and coaches, as well as several new friendships. Two were particularly touching moments.
 
Les Steckel, his position coach with the 49ers and Vikings, wandered into the museum during a business trip in 2015. It was the first time they'd seen each other since Sept. 10, 1984, when Steckel informed LeCount he was cut by the Vikings.
 
The other came in the form of a cast. About 40 years ago (give or take a few), when LeCount found himself in the UF infirmary with a knee injury, he signed the cast of a fellow patient with a broken wrist. When the man and his family visited the Hall, they brought the cast and showed it to LeCount.
 
Another aspect of the job LeCount enjoys is his role as a supervisor. Most of his employees are either still in college or recently graduated. There have been challenges along the way, but LeCount's helped them understand the importance of communication skills, often reminding them their future bosses "are in this building." When his employees move on to new jobs, he always stays in touch.
 
"If I'd have known it was going to be like this, I'd have been writing things down, had a little book going," LeCount said. "It's just been unbelievable. I wake up in the morning and want to be here every day. I could've never imagined it. I just thought it was another job. Until year one. I saw my coaches come in, guys I ran track against, my relatives. It's just been unbelievable.
 
"It's just a great feeling to be working here. I'm probably never going to retire. I'm just having too much fun."
 
LeCount is enjoying the mass influx of Gators fans visiting the Hall ahead of Saturday's Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl. He attends every year, and while he hopes to see Florida in some even bigger bowl games in the years to come, it is not lost on him the Gators are playing right down the road from a place that means so much to him.
 
"This is special," he said, tapping the Gators pin affixed to the collar of his polo. "This is a special one because I'm actually watching my team play."