I became a lifelong Gator fan way back when I was 9 in '62 and Ray Graves even then was a very special man and father figure to me. I have followed the Gators all of my life and my most memorable Gator heros to me begins with Coach Graves. Adding to that list by years would be Larry Dupree, Tom Shannon, Steve Spurrier, Charles Casey, Larry Gagner, Lynn Mathews, Larry Smith, Larry Rentz, Jim Yarbrough, Jack Youngblood, Nat Moore, John Reaves, Carlos Alvarez, Tommy Durrance, Fred Abbot, Jimmy Dubose, Don Gaffney, Lee McGriff, Wayne Peace, Neal Anderson, Kerwin Bell, John L. Williams, Shane Mathews, Riedell Anthony, Jacquez Green, Dwight Hilliard, Eli Williams, "Fast" Fred Taylor, Danny Wuerffel, Terry Dean, Rex Grossman, Jesse Palmer, Chris Leak, Tim Tebow and many more Gator Greats. On every Saturday in the fall in my house its always, "GO GATORS!!!"
Every word of this video is true. A fitting tribute to a man I met daily at his press chats after practice as a student stringer for a pair of Florida newspapers. I'm sure Steve Superior will agree that Coach Graves was the Original Old Ball Coach!
