Fergie Ferguson Award

Fergie Ferguson Award
Awarded for	"Senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage"
Location	University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
Country	United States
Presented by	Florida Gators football coaching staff
Reward(s)	Trophy
Official website	Florida Gators football

The Forest K. Ferguson Award, commonly known as the "Fergie Ferguson Award," is presented annually to a senior member of the Florida Gators football team in memory of one of the University of Florida's greatest athletes.

Namesake

The award takes its name from Forest K. Ferguson, known as "Fergie" to his teammates, who was one of the University of Florida's greatest all-around athletes.^[1] Ferguson received first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and honorable mention All-American honors as a football player in 1941.^[2] He was also the State of Florida collegiate boxing champion, and won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship in the javelin throw in 1942.^[1] As a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Ferguson led an infantry platoon during the D-Day landings in Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944. His platoon was pinned down by a machine gun being fired from a nest on a high bluff, so Ferguson climbed the cliff and eliminated the danger but was severely wounded in the process.^[3] He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest medal, for "extraordinary heroism" in combat.^[3] Ferguson never fully recovered from his wounds, and died from complications related to his war-time injuries in 1954.^[4]

Award

The Forest K. Ferguson Award was established in Ferguson's honor by several of his former Gators teammates in 1955. The award is given annually in the form of a trophy, which remains in the permanent possession of the university. The recipient is the Gators' "senior football player who displays outstanding leadership, character and courage," and is selected by the Florida Gators football coaching staff and players.^[1] Former Gator and NFL fullback Mal Hammack was the first recipient in 1955.^[5] The recipients to date are listed below:

Award winners

1954 – Malcolm Hammack (FB)
1955 – Steve DeLaTorre (C/LB)
1956 – Larry Wesley (T)
1957 – Jim Rountree (HB)
1958 – Jimmy Dunn (QB)
1959 – Asa Cox (G)
1960 – Pat Patchen (E)
1960 – Vic Miranda (T)
1961 – Jim Beaver (T)
1962 – Sam Holland (E)
1963 – Jimmy Morgan (LB)
1963 – Hagood Clarke (HB)
1964 – Larry Dupree (FB)
1965 – Charles Casey (E)
1966 – Steve Spurrier (QB)
1967 – Richard Trapp (E)
1968 – Guy Dennis (G)
1968 – Larry Smith (RB)
1969 – Steve Tannen (DB)
1970 – Jack Youngblood (DE)
1971 – John Reaves (QB)

1972 – Fred Abbott (LB)
1973 – David Hitchcock (NG)
1974 – Lee McGriff (SE)
1975 – Jimmy DuBose (FB)
1976 – Jimmy Fisher (QB)
1977 – Wes Chandler (SE)
1978 – Mike Dupree (DE)
1979 – Chuck Hatch (DB)
1980 – David Little (LB)
1981 – Brian Clark (PK)
1982 – James Jones (FB)
1983 – Dwayne Dixon (WR)
1984 – Gary Rolle (WR)
1985 – Neal Anderson (RB)
1986 – Ricky Nattiel (WR)
1987 – Kerwin Bell (QB)
1988 – Louis Oliver (DB)
1989 – John Durden (OT)
1990 – Kirk Kirkpatrick (TE)
1991 – Cal Dixon (C)
1992 – Lex Smith (DE)

1993 – William Gaines (DT)
1994 – Michael Gilmore (DB)
1995 – Ben Hanks (LB)
1996 – James Bates (LB)
1997 – Dwayne Thomas (LB)
1998 – Willie Cohens (DE)
1999 – Cheston Blackshear (OG)
2000 – Jesse Palmer (QB)
2001 – Rob Roberts (FB)
2002 – Byron Hardmon (LB)
2003 – Daryl Dixon (FS)
2004 – Ciatrick Fason (RB)
2005 – Jarvis Herring (S)
2006 – Jemalle Cornelius (WR)
2007 – Andre Caldwell (WR)
2008 – Louis Murphy (WR)
2009 – Ryan Stamper (LB)
2010 – Justin Trattou (DE)
2011 – John Brantley (QB), LB Lerentee McCray (LB)
2012 – Sharrif Floyd (DL), Jon Bostic (LB), Frankie Hammond (WR), Josh Evans (DB)
2013 – Jeremy Brown (DB), Kyle Koehne (OL), Darrin Kitchens (LB)
2014 – Max Garcia (OL)

References

1 2 3 2014 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 71 & 94 (2014). Retrieved September 26, 2014.
↑ Grantland Rice, "The All-America Football Team," Collier's, p. 78 (December 13, 1941). Retrieved September 26, 2014.
1 2 MilitaryTimes.com, Hall of Valor, Forest K. Ferguson. Retrieved May 14, 2010.
↑ Associated Press, "Funeral Rites Held For Forrest Ferguson, Gator Grid All-America," St. Petersburg Times, p. 14 (May 20, 1954). Retrieved September 25, 2014.
↑ "Malcolm Hammack Gets First Forest Ferguson Award," The News-Tribune, p. 13 (November 13, 1955). Retrieved September 28, 2014.

External links

A Memorial Day Salute to FOrrest "Fergie" Ferguson at floridagators.com

Florida Gators football

Venues	The Baseball Park (1906–1910) University Athletic Field / Fleming Field (1911–1930) Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium (1930–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Auburn Florida State (Florida Cup) Georgia LSU Miami (Florida Cup) Tennessee

Culture & lore	History The Pride of the Sunshine Gator Chomp Mr. Two Bits

People	Head coaches Ring of Honor All-Americans UF Athletic Hall of Fame Starting quarterbacks Statistical leaders NFL players Mick Hubert

Seasons	1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

National championship seasons in bold

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 9/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.