Fans at Florida Ballpark can take a seat in the shade underneath a structure with a familiar name around UF. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)
Gators Booster Tom Shannon & Family Dish Out Some Shade
Wednesday, March 16, 2022 | Baseball, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Their life together started at the University of Florida in the 1960s when they met as college students. Kathy and Tom Shannon have become something akin to Orange & Blue Royalty in the decades since.
The Shannons have made significant financial contributions to various UF projects, both academic and athletic. Their latest financial contribution is a cool one.
Literally.
If you visit Florida Ballpark this season to watch the Gators baseball team, you can take a seat in the shade under the Tom and Kathy Shannon Shade Structure. As Gator Boosters pursued financial contributions to build a modernized, fan-friendly ballpark, the project piqued Tom Shannon's interest.
Former Gators quarterback and first baseman Tom Shannon served as an honorary head coach at the 2019 Orange & Blue Spring Game. (Photo: Chris Houston/UAA Communications)
He was a two-sport standout for the Gators. A left-handed quarterback, Shannon was named 1962 Gator Bowl MVP, and he was the starting first baseman for the Florida baseball team.
When Tom was a senior, he met a freshman coed named Kathy Green. They began dating, and Kathy would stop by Perry Field to watch her beau play. Their history together at the ballpark played a role in their contribution to Florida Ballpark.
"The idea of having such a premiere baseball stadium appealed to us," Shannon said. "That kind of tugs at you a little bit. I think we rank right up there at the top now."
Following college, Shannon turned his interests toward business, using his double-major in marketing and management at UF to great success. He became a real estate developer in the Tampa Bay area, and in the early 1990s, the couple created the T-Bird Restaurant Group.
The restaurant group served as the exclusive franchisee for the Outback Steakhouse chain in California. The T-Bird Group owned and operated 63 restaurants and had more than 4,000 Outbackers on the payroll at its peak.
"The university was my financial partner,'' Shannon said. "This is our way to pay back maybe a little bit of interest on the financial partnership of getting through college. We got married her junior year. She was still in school. I had to promise her mom and dad that she would finish her college education before we took off anywhere."
Several years after Shannon's business interests took off, he contributed to another baseball stadium project. When UF updated Perry Field in the early 1980s, the Shannons contributed financially to rebuild the home dugout. They attended a reception held by then-athletic director Bill Carr to celebrate the improved baseball facility.
"We donated the money back then, and that was kind of the beginning of them going out and actually breaking down some of the areas where you could donate,'' Shannon said. "It wasn't like you had to donate the whole ballpark. You could do a piece of this and a piece of that. Turned out well."
Perry Field, which was rechristened Perry Field at McKethan Stadium in later years, brought back fond memories for Shannon. When the stadium was demolished in 2020 to make room for a standalone football facility, the Shannons reminisced.
"It was kind of like taking a little piece of our memory,'' he said. "We went to a lot of baseball games over the years, including the old alumni reunions where we actually got to bat, and Coach [Dave] Fuller was there back in those days. Coach Fuller hosted Kathy and me at many baseball games over the years. So, we had a lot of memories at the old ballpark."
Meanwhile, Shannon already has a memory at the Florida Ballpark. Last season, he took in a game with his son Tommy and grandson Colter and attended a reception held by Gators athletic director Scott Stricklin. As they toured the ballpark, Shannon's son reminded him of their history with Gators baseball.
Shannon said that helped inspire his latest gift to the Gators.
"Dad, you've got a history here playing baseball,'' Tommy Shannon said. "You had a good career here, and you and mom have loved the baseball diamond for years. That's what prompted it."
More than anything, the Shannons stay involved because UF is "La Familia," according to Tom.
The school's academic and athletic profile has grown tremendously since the couple met and started their journey together. They have helped with their financial contributions and passion for the Gators.
"We continue to be big, big fans of the University of Florida," Tom said. "With the university achieving the excellence it has through the foundation and being fifth in the country among public universities, it is a baseball field like that is just another step for the university in reaching a new standard of excellence. If you don't have the baseball field, football field, or basketball court, it puts you behind in recruiting. And if you can compete in the SEC, you can compete anywhere in the country.
"We're all for the university's strive for excellence."
Perry Field, which was rechristened Perry Field at McKethan Stadium in later years, brought back fond memories for Shannon. When the stadium was demolished in 2020 to make room for a standalone football facility, the Shannons reminisced.
