Florida football: Proud to be a Gator!

Prior to the first game of the year against Miami, I was thinking of the game. I was anticipating what would happen, to what the crowd would be like at this neutral site. I was excited as much for the crowd as I was for the game.

There is nothing like Florida Football fans. The best fans in the country.

So I asked on social media: what does it mean to YOU to be a Gator football fan?

The response I got was amazing.

Proud To Be A Gator

I knew of course what kind of response I might get as I know many Gator fans and know how they think. But in reading some of the responses made my pride grow even bigger than it was. The first gator fan to post was a US Marine Terry M who wrote:

"“I’m a Marine….a member of the best fighting force the world has ever seen. I always tell Gator haters going to their school is like going into the Army……the Army will take ANYBODY. You gotta be something special to be a Marine…..AND to be a Gator.”"

You got to be something special to be a Florida football fan. That is a theme that I found throughout the posts. Ann H stated:

"“Being a Gator is a way of life, it’s a feeling of being where you belong in life and to be a part of something that no one can ever take away from you, you don’t have to be or live or born in Florida to be a Gator once you get it it’s in your veins for the rest of your life 🧡💙🧡💙🐊🐊🐊🧡💙 Go Gators forever for life until you die”"

This was the one that had me jumping up saying YEAH, YEAH. Basically saying you don’t have to live in Florida, be born in Florida to be a Gator, but once you do, it is in your veins for life. This is a big theme as many believe that being a Gator is just in their DNA.

“It’s in my blood big son.the Florida way. Gooo gators,” Stated Brett R. “ITS IN MY DNA!!!!! BORN A GATOR 12/14/1977🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊🐊.”  Says Zack. If you ever hear I have orange and blue blood in my veins, now you know what they mean. It is as natural to be a fan as it is to be alive, it just is.

Being With Other Gator Fans

The thing is the feeling and meaning of being a Florida football fan seems to be consistent across the board. We all know that one can read anything and get that feeling just from another person’s words.

But to really get the feeling and understand one must see it and feel it for themselves. One must sit with and converse with other fans at a game.

If you have even been inside the Swamp or been to any Gator football game you can understand immediately. Sitting next to another fan that you have never meet and feeling like you have known them forever.

When you can place your arm around another and sway back and forth and sing “We Are The Boys,” it is incredible!

They let you in and when you are in the stadium you are all one, together Gator, and the rest of the world is on its own.

I know many will say, our fans are just as close and feel the same way. But until you are a Gator fan you will never know how close we are.

So I ask again, What does it mean to YOU to be a Gator football fan?