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Florida: Where Football Is King

Tribune File Photo

Bucs coach Jon Gruden waves the Lombardi Super Bowl trophy to the crowds as it crosses the Platt Street Bridge during the team's victory parade on Bayshore Blvd. in 2003.

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By JOEY JOHNSTON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

Football has solidified itself as the American obsession. With distinct rituals - a kaleidoscope of painted faces, replica jerseys, marching-band anthems, tailgate feasts, gigantic stadiums, wall-to-wall television coverage, omnipresent fantasy leagues and, yes, wagering - it's almost a nation unto itself.

And that nation's capital is unmistakable.

Florida.

Football Florida.

"This state is crazy for football," said former University of Miami quarterback Gino Torretta, the 1992 Heisman Trophy winner. "It's deeply imbedded into the culture of the place - at all levels. There may not be another state quite like it."

Certainly not for this season.

On Jan. 8, college football will crown its No. 1 team during the BCS Championship Game at Miami's Dolphin Stadium.

On Feb. 1, the National Football League's signature event, Super Bowl XLIII, will be played at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium.

Later that week, the next generation steps forward on National Signing Day. On average, 350 Florida high school products receive scholarships to Division I colleges.

"It's the place you want to be," Florida Atlantic coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "Big things happen in this state. Really big things."

The 1972 Dolphins (17-0) remain the only unbeaten Super Bowl champions. Former Dolphins coach Don Shula has the NFL's record for victories (347) and his quarterback, Dan Marino, held every significant career passing record before being surpassed last season by Brett Favre.

The NFL's all-time rushing record - 18,355 yards - was set by a native Floridian, former Gator Emmitt Smith.

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden owns a piece of the all-time Division I-A career victories record, tied at 374 with Penn State's Joe Paterno. Gators quarterback Tim Tebow is the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.

Since Schnellenberger's Miami Hurricanes won the 1983 national championship - capitalizing on his priority of recruiting South Florida-bred players - state of Florida teams have registered 35 top-five finishes in the final Associated Press poll. That includes nine No. 1 teams. No other state had more than two in that 25-season span.

Three Florida high-school programs - No. 1 Miami Northwestern, No. 6 Pahokee and No. 8 Miami Booker T. Washington - were in the top 10 of USA Today's final Super 25 rankings last season. No other state had multiple teams in the top 10.

"If you're the best team in Florida, you're probably the best team in the country," said former Northwestern quarterback Jacory Harris, now a UM freshman. "We've got the best of everything."

It wasn't always that way.

Humble Beginnings

In the 1970s, the Year of the Gator never seemed to pan out.

Pre-Bowden FSU was in the throes of a 20-game losing streak.

UM, bordering on irrelevance, couldn't keep a coach. The school actually considered dropping football.

A promising prospect from St. Petersburg's Dixie Hollins High, Jim Leavitt, looked around and didn't see much to keep him home. He went to Missouri.

"The programs in the state just weren't that powerful," said Leavitt, now coach at the University of South Florida.

It wasn't unusual to see top Floridians flee to the Big Ten, Notre Dame, Penn State, Alabama or Tennessee. The state missed on some top games (notably, Michigan's Anthony Carter of Riviera Beach) and flashy names (Oklahoma's Elvis Peacock and Buster Rhymes of Miami, just to name two).

Then it began to change. Natural resources were discovered and preserved. Deion! Emmitt! Sapp! Brooks!

"Florida has a wonderful reputation for great players, up and down the state," said Ken Riley, a dean at Winter Haven High School, the former Florida A&M coach who had 65 career interceptions (fifth all-time) for the Cincinnati Bengals.

"The state's population started to get bigger, and you got more high schools, and bigger high schools, and better competition between them," Bowden said. "When I first started coaching, Florida was not the state with all the great players."

Now there are enough great players to go around.

In 1997, USF began its football program at the Division I-AA level, pledging that it would grow as fast as its fans and resources would allow. Leavitt said the Bulls could compete by simply attracting the top players within a 50-mile radius of campus. Imagine that - national-level recruiting on one tank of gas.

Last season, USF reached the nation's No. 2 ranking and went to a bowl game for the third straight year.

Taking a cue from USF's vision, Florida Atlantic and Florida International have instituted football.

"There's an abundance of talent at the skill positions in this state," said Bucs running back Earnest Graham, a Cape Coral Mariner product. "No wonder USF got good in a hurry. With our weather, you play year-round. You develop your game."

"It's an incredibly competitive environment," said Bucs center Jeff Faine, who attended Sanford Seminole. "Football is so much a part of this state. It's very big-time."

Super Memories

At the top, though, is the Super Bowl, football's ultimate event. For the fourth time, it will come to Tampa. For the 14th time, it will be staged in Florida, the site for some of the most unforgettable images in NFL history.

Vince Lombardi's finale with the Packers.

Joe Namath's guarantee.

Jim O'Brien's game-winner.

Lynn Swann's catch.

Jackie Smith's drop.

Marcus Allen's run.

Joe Montana's signature drive.

Scott Norwood's miss.

John Elway's last game.

Trent Dilfer's homecoming.

Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith - two black coaches - playing for the Lombardi Trophy.

They all happened in Florida's Super Bowls.

"It's not a coincidence that the NFL keeps coming back to Florida," said Michael Kelly, the ACC's associate commissioner for football, who helped manage the most recent Super Bowls staged in Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville. "The state is synonymous with football at the highest level."

Events, players and fans all have a stake in the success.

"What happens in Florida is an example of what happens throughout the South," SEC commissioner Mike Slive said. "Football is part of the fabric of our lives. It's not a stretch to say people plan their life-cycle events around these games.

"Here's what I love. Walking into a stadium and seeing a family. There's Grandma and Grandpa, there's Mom and Dad and there are the children. They're at the game together. Several years ago, the grandma and grandpa were the mom and dad. And the mom and dad were the children. It's a generational thing. It's what they do. It's more than a game."

It's UF's Mr. Two-Bits, FSU's flaming spear and Hurricanes players sprinting through a cloud of billowing smoke.

It's the Perfect Dolphins and the red-zone cannon firing in Tampa.

It's Friday night in the Panhandle, hearing "Anchors Aweigh" at Lakeland High's Bryant Stadium and witnessing the college recruiters congregating at a Miami prep showdown.

It's part tradition, part lifestyle, all obsession.

And this season, it belongs to everyone.

Football Florida.

Reporter Joey Johnston can be reached at (813) 259-7353 or jjohnston@tampatrib.com.

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