Florida Gators Country » Florida Gator Country Magazine

The One and Only Gator Country Magazine

The Gator Country Magazine is now the fastest growing full color magazine printed on high quality glossy paper that’s dedicated to bringing you the best in-depth feature coverage of the Florida Gators. Our magazine is the only one that has award winning writers and columnists on staff so you can truly enjoy reading about your beloved Florida Gators.

There are ten issues a year and each issue is packed with feature stories & information, the latest recruiting news, excellent commentary, and outstanding photographs not found anywhere else. Unlike most magazines, we have fewer advertisements so as to allow us to pack more content for your reading pleasure.

VIP subscribers will receive the magazine as part of their Gator Country subscription. Magazine only subscriptions are also available… Looking for back or single issues? Try the Gator Country Store!

(We will also be offering exclusive, limited edition prints of our special cover on 8 x 10 (and up) glossy paper suitable for framing… Orders are now being accepted in the Gator Country store!)

HEISMAN ISSUE - FEB 2008— Table of Contents

BORN TO LEAD
Tebow inspires his peers on the way to a record-seting season and a piece of Heisman hardware

Percy Harvin knew he wanted to play on the same football team with Tim Tebow, even before they were paired on the East squad for the 2006 U. S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. Harvin had heard all the stories about Tebow’s high school exploits, about how Tebow had scored the winning touchdown in one game running on a broken ankle and how Tebow had shattered all the Florida high school passing records. He couldn’t wait to get to San Antonio, so they could play on the same team.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
A few prominent members of the Gator Nation weight in on Tim Tebow and his Heisman

“I love to watch Tim Tebow play football. You know what, I don’t know how talented he is, but I would say on the internal things that you can’t see that really impact winning, I think he’s off the charts the best football player to ever play here or maybe anywhere in the country. He’s got some internal qualities that you can’t see, but you see them when you watch him play.”—Billy Donovan
HOMETOWN HERO
Ponte Vedra Beach celebrates as one of its own wins the Heisman Trophy

The opening of a sugar packet would normally go totally unnoticed at The Bogey Grille in Ponte Vedra Beach. But, even the most minuscule disruptions were at a minimum during a December Saturday evening because of the magnitude of the event. This was Tim Tebow night and the packed house was silent because they wanted to hear every word.
HEISMAN NUMBER ONE
Steve Spurrier put Florida Football on the map with a memorable 1966 season

He was the first. The school’s first Heisman winner. The coach of the first official Southeastern Conference championship team. And the coach of the first national championship squad. Imagine, if you will, where University of Florida football would be without Steve Spurrier? Frightening, isn’t it? Gator fans, past, present, probably need to thank David Bludworth. David Bludworth? It was Bludworth, a former Gator punter, who hosted Spurrier on his recruiting visit one February weekend in back in 1963. Florida, at the time, was neck and neck with Alabama and Ole Miss to land Spurrier, a gifted three-sport athlete from Johnson City, Tenn.
HEISMAN NUMBER TWO
Thirty years after Steve Spurrier, Danny Wuerffel guided the Gators to heavenly heights in 1996.

The new coach needed a quarterback. Little did he know he’d find a future Heisman Trophy winner a screen pass away from the front door of Fort Walton Beach High School. “When I first got the job there, the principal was showing me around,” Jimmy Ray Stephens said. “He took me down to the athletic fields and they had a P. E. class and a bunch of the guys were out there playing touch football. I was like, ‘Who’s the quarterback? I want to meet the quarterback first.’ I wanted to get a feel, to decide what kind of offense to run. I had a particular offense in mind, the run and shoot. I saw Danny and I asked him, ‘Can you do this? Take these steps one, two, three, four, five.’ Then I had a receiver run a few routes. I saw him throw two or three passes. After that, I thought to myself, ‘This guy’s going to be pretty good.’’’
A LOOK AHEAD
Florida’s football team should improve, but championship hopes hinge upon defensive progress.

As the afternoon sun painted the Orlando skyline with a burntorange hue on the first day of 2008, one season ended and another began for the University of Florida football team. Motivation for next season will be framed by memories of the past one. The glare of the Capital One Bowl scoreboard spoke loud and clear. Michigan 41, Florida 35. Once again, the Gators scored plenty of points, but offered little resistance. Sound familiar? For the fifth game this season, Florida yielded 28 or more points. Two of those games, they scored enough to win. This time they did not, a disturbing trend that will leave UF coach Urban Meyer searching for answers in the offseason.
FINDING HIS NICHE
Dan Werner adapts to playing power forward for an undersized Florida frontcourt

Dan Werner doesn’t have time to worry about all the things he can’t do. He knows all too well that he has limitations, and he’s all too aware that he may not look like the most graceful or athletically gifted player on the basketball court, but none of that seems to stop him from finding ways to be productive. If you’re looking to find his name at the top of the scoring charts, look again, but if you’re looking at all the little things that add up in a positive way, then Dan Werner is your guy.
HOLLYWOOD BOB’S TOP FIVE PROSPECTS TO FOLLOW
Every month, Gator Country Recruiting Analyst Bob Redman tells us who the Gators are hot after in football recruiting.
THE MAKING OF A HEISMAN MAN
Buddy Martin’s column

When I was a small boy, dropping a penny in a gumball machine in hopes of scoring one of those gold plastic mini-footballs was an exercise in futility. When I did land one, it was a disappointment to discover that the names of the schools were always “Cornell” or “Ohio State” or ‘’Notre Dame” or “Army” or “Navy” — never any of my favorite teams. College football in the South was almost like a sport in a foreign country to many people in other regions. Not all that long ago, a Heisman Trophy for a player in the South was rarer than a Honus Wagner baseball card.
BONUS EXTRA: Pull-out full color poster of Tim Tebow in a Heisman-like pose vs. South Carolina in a memorable performance.