GAINESVILLE, Fla. — During a sensational prep career in Belle Glades, Fla., the story goes that Reidel Anthony once caught a long touchdown pass, crossed the goal line in full stride and high-hurdled a fence behind the end zone. His momentum carried the wideout up into bleachers, where he took a seat, crossed his legs and watched the penalty flags fly below. Reidel Anthony's
"Knoxville Leap" in 1996
Yes, this is the same player who for Coach Steve Spurrier went on to an All-America career at Florida and capped some of his electrifying scores with memorable (sometimes illegal) celebration routines. Like ripping off his helmet and firing a mock shotgun in the 1994 Southeastern Conference Championship Game against Alabama (as a freshman, no less) or his gutsy vault into the Neyland Stadium's stands after catching a 35-yard touchdown on fourth-and-11 to ignite a rainy road route of No. 2 Tennessee in 1996.
It's probably safe to assume Anthony, now 45, still knows how to play to a sold-out crowd, which he'll do again Saturday night when he ushers in the 2022 football season — and the Billy Napier era — as the year's first honorary "Mr. Two Bits" when the Gators play host to No. 7 Utah in one of UF's most anticipated openers in decades.
So what will a Reidel Anthony "Two Bits" routine look like?
"I haven't gotten that far yet. First, I need to get the rules and regulations," Anthony said. "Coach Spurrier used to always tell me, 'You know, Reidel, you're the only one who ended up in the NCAA's what-not-to-do video they show teams every year.' I made it three years in a row, so I guess I better see what they allow."
Since Anthony's eligibility as a student-athlete ran out 25 years ago when he bolted UF a year early for the NFL, anything short of removing his shorts probably is on the table.
Add Anthony to the list of famous Florida wideouts to get the "Two Bits" nod, a roll call that includes Carlos Alvarez, Wes Chandler, Cris Collinsworth, Louis Murphy, Percy Harvin, Chris Doering and Ike Hilliard. The latter two were teammates of Anthony's during Spurrier's rampage of SEC secondaries in the 1990s. As a true freshman in 1994 to his junior season in '96, Anthony totaled 126 receptions for 2,274 (that's 18.0 per catch) and 26 touchdowns. His 18 receiving TDs in '96, capped by first-team All-America honors and the program's first national championship, set the SEC single-season record, a mark that stood for 23 years.
Following his true junior season, Anthony declared for the 1997 NFL Draft and was taken in the first round (16th overall) by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and stuck around the league for six seasons, amassing 118 receptions, 1,846 yards and 16 TDs.
He is a member of the UF Athletic Hall of Fame, Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame and was Florida's SEC's Legend in 2009.
Now comes his latest honor; donning the look made famous by super-Gator fan George Edmondson — "I loved that outfit!" he said — and doing a celebrity version of the pregame cheer, a tradition the program began in 2013, a few years after Edmondson retired (and six years before he passed away in 2019). Reidel Anthony (2022)
"It's extremely cool," said Anthony, now married with two children, living in Tampa, and the head of the Y Not Me Academy, an athletic skills-development boutique in Wesley Chapel. "I know ["Two Bits"] was always a crowd favorite, but just to relive the 'Swamp' when it's alive again, I just couldn't pass that up."
Nor the chance to see up close just where the program is headed under Napier, who has made a priority of reconnecting with Gators (some of the greatest) from the past and getting them in front of current players.
"Things are starting to look up," Anthony said. "The fans seem to be excited again. I like the vibe."
Now, Anthony gets a chance to add to that vibe. He's got a pretty good track record.
