Gator Country

Florida Gators senior running back was named the Ray Graves Team MVP and was among five 2012 Team Captains, two awards voted on players. / Photo by Icon Sports Media

The Florida Gators football team hosted its annual awards banquet on Saturday night. Players sported tuxedos, the butter was shaped like a gator and former Gators player Kevin Carter was the guest speaker.

Tweets from the @GatorZoneFB account provided updates of awards winners throughout the night, so GatorCountry.com wanted to recap it all here for our members.

The awards offer a glimpse into what coaches and players think about one another and what has been going on behind the closed gates of the practice fields.

For instance, offensive line transfer Max Garcia was among the recipients of the Offensive Scout Team MVP Award, which coincides with our sources reports of Garcia performing well during practice. There also were awards for several freshman who redshirted this season, such as Alex McCalister, Jerami Powell and Rhaheim Ledbetter, who won awards, a sign they could be impact players to watch in the future.

Senior running back Mike Gillislee won the coveted Ray Graves Team MVP Award, which is voted on by players. Gillislee received another honor that was voted on by his teammates, the 2012 Team Captains. Other team captains were Jon Bostic, Omar Hunter, Jon Halapio and Matt Elam.

Here’s a rundown of all of the awards, according to UF communications:

2012 Banquet Award Winners

Coaches’ Choice Awards

President’s Academic Award: Caleb Sturgis, Jeff Driskel, Michael McNeeley

Gene Ellenson Community Service Award: Jon Bostic, Jeremy Brown, Caleb Sturgis

Iron Gator Strength and Conditioning Award: Jon Harrison, Jon Halapio, Omarius Hines, Sam Robey, Lerentee McCray

Chris Patrick Courage Award: Dominique Easley, Chaz Green, Jon Halapio, Ronald Powell, James Wilson

Most Valuable Offensive Scout Team Award: Max Garcia, Mark Herndon

Most Valuable Defensive Scout Team Award: Alex McAlister, Jeremi Powell

Most Valuable Special Teams Scout Team Award: David Campbell, Rhaheim Ledbetter

Players’ Choice Awards

Rex Farrior Most Team Spirited Offense: Xavier Nixon

Rex Farrior Most Team Spirited Defense: Matt Elam, Dominique Easley

Greg See Tenacity Award Offense: Jon Harrison, Jon Halapio

Greg See Tenacity Award Defense: Matt Elam, Sharrif Floyd

Most Valuable Special Teams Player: Caleb Sturgis, Loucheiz Purifoy

Most Valuable Offensive Player: Mike Gillislee

Most Valuable Defensive Player: Matt Elam

James W. Kynes Award (Best Mental/Physical Toughness): Matt Elam, Jon Bostic

Ray Graves Award (Team MVP): Mike Gillislee

Fergie Ferguson Leadership Award: Sharrif Floyd, Jon Bostic, Frankie Hammond, Josh Evans

Team Captain (5): Jon Bostic, Mike Gillislee, Matt Elam, Jon Halapio, Omar Hunter

About the author

MikeCapshaw

Mike’s 15 years in the business has included more than six years of covering SEC sports and recruiting at a daily newspaper in Arkansas. He has also helped launch a newspaper, magazines, websites and even a sports talk radio show. Mike has won Florida Press Association awards for Best Sports Game Story and Best Sports Feature Story in the past two years as well as a company-wide award at his former newspaper group that includes some 60 publications, for Excellence in Sports Reporting.

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