Meet Student "Mr. Two Bits 2019:" Austin Barton
Tuesday, September 24, 2019 | Football, Chris Harry
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Growing up in Jacksonville, Austin Barton had a dream like a lot of starry-eyed kids in the state. As he got older, reality set in.
"By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I realized I was too short and too slow to play football for the University of Florida," he said.
It was about the same time, though, that Barton went to Florida Field and watched an anonymous business major, decked out in yellow shirt and khaki pants, jog to midfield before the Gators faced Eastern Michigan and lead the crowd in a certain familiar cheer.
How cool, Barton thought, but what do you have to do to get to be that guy?
In time, he found out: Be a UF student and make a video that's good enough to win a Twitter poll.
Here you go.
The above clip earned Barton, a civil engineering major set to graduate in December, the honor of 2019 student "Mr. Two Bits" for Saturday's game when the ninth-ranked Gators (4-0) take on Towson at the "Swamp." Barton and two other contestants were finalists for the annual contest, with their videos pushed out via social media, along with a poll last week.
Barton got a bunch of his Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers to appear in the video (and presumably to vote for him) and emerged the winner.
"It's surreal," he said. "I thought my chances to ever get on the football were gone. But I found a way."
It should make for quite an afternoon (and quite an experience) for someone who grew up Gator (his grandparents attended and met at UF), went to a couple games during the Steve Spurrier coaching era (though he doesn't remember them), and got sucked into the orange-and-blue universe when Ron Zook was roaming the sidelines.
That was 2002-04, meaning Barton got plenty of chances to see the late George Edmondson do his thing for real.
"I remember not really understanding what the chant meant or what 'bits' were," he said. "But anyone who could get that many people in a full stadium to be that quiet, then that loud, that's impressive."
Come Saturday, the field will be his.
Sometimes, dreams come true, but in different forms. Here's betting this version will be good enough for Austin Barton.
"By the time I was a sophomore in high school, I realized I was too short and too slow to play football for the University of Florida," he said.
It was about the same time, though, that Barton went to Florida Field and watched an anonymous business major, decked out in yellow shirt and khaki pants, jog to midfield before the Gators faced Eastern Michigan and lead the crowd in a certain familiar cheer.
How cool, Barton thought, but what do you have to do to get to be that guy?
In time, he found out: Be a UF student and make a video that's good enough to win a Twitter poll.
Here you go.
#StudentTwoBits entry one: Austin Barton @AustinB91966493pic.twitter.com/lQoqoA8qFt
— Gators Students (@GatorsStudents) September 16, 2019
The above clip earned Barton, a civil engineering major set to graduate in December, the honor of 2019 student "Mr. Two Bits" for Saturday's game when the ninth-ranked Gators (4-0) take on Towson at the "Swamp." Barton and two other contestants were finalists for the annual contest, with their videos pushed out via social media, along with a poll last week.
Barton got a bunch of his Delta Tau Delta fraternity brothers to appear in the video (and presumably to vote for him) and emerged the winner.
"It's surreal," he said. "I thought my chances to ever get on the football were gone. But I found a way."
It should make for quite an afternoon (and quite an experience) for someone who grew up Gator (his grandparents attended and met at UF), went to a couple games during the Steve Spurrier coaching era (though he doesn't remember them), and got sucked into the orange-and-blue universe when Ron Zook was roaming the sidelines.
That was 2002-04, meaning Barton got plenty of chances to see the late George Edmondson do his thing for real.
"I remember not really understanding what the chant meant or what 'bits' were," he said. "But anyone who could get that many people in a full stadium to be that quiet, then that loud, that's impressive."
Come Saturday, the field will be his.
Sometimes, dreams come true, but in different forms. Here's betting this version will be good enough for Austin Barton.
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