Fergie Ferguson Award


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. Ferguson received first-team All-Southeastern Conference and honorable mention All-American honors as a football player in 1941. He was also the State of Florida collegiate boxing champion, and won the Amateur Athletic Union national championship in the javelin throw in 1942. 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. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest medal, for "extraordinary heroism" in combat. Ferguson never fully recovered from his wounds, and died from complications related to his war-time injuries in 1954.

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. Former Gator and NFL fullback Mal Hammack was the first recipient in 1955. The recipients to date are listed below:

Award winners

1954 - Malcolm Hammack
1955 - Steve DeLaTorre
1956 - Larry Wesley
1957 - Jim Rountree
1958 - Jimmy Dunn
1959 - Asa Cox
1960 - Pat Patchen, Vic Miranda
1961 - Jim Beaver
1962 - Sam Holland
1963 - Jimmy Morgan, Hagood Clarke
1964 - Larry Dupree
1965 - Charles Casey
1966 - Steve Spurrier
1967 - Richard Trapp
1968 - Guy Dennis, Larry Smith
1969 - Steve Tannen
1970 - Jack Youngblood
1971 - John Reaves
1972 - Fred Abbott
1973 - David Hitchcock
1974 - Lee McGriff
1975 - Jimmy DuBose
1976 - Jimmy Fisher
1977 - Wes Chandler
1978 - Mike Dupree
1979 - Chuck Hatch
1980 - David Little
1981 - Brian Clark
1982 - James Jones
1983 - Dwayne Dixon
1984 - Gary Rolle
1985 - Neal Anderson
1986 - Ricky Nattiel
1987 - Kerwin Bell
1988 - Louis Oliver
1989 - John Durden
1990 - Kirk Kirkpatrick
1991 - Cal Dixon
1992 - Lex Smith
1993 - William Gaines
1994 - Michael Gilmore
1995 - Ben Hanks
1996 - James Bates
1997 - Dwayne Thomas
1998 - Willie Cohens
1999 - Cheston Blackshear
2000 - Jesse Palmer
2001 - Rob Roberts
2002 - Byron Hardmon
2003 - Daryl Dixon
2004 - Ciatrick Fason
2005 - Jarvis Herring
2006 - Jemalle Cornelius
2007 - Andre Caldwell
2008 - Louis Murphy
2009 - Ryan Stamper
2010 - Justin Trattou
2011 - John Brantley, LB Lerentee McCray
2012 - Sharrif Floyd, Jon Bostic, Frankie Hammond, Josh Evans
2013 - Jeremy Brown, Kyle Koehne, Darrin Kitchens
2014 - Max Garcia
2015 - Jon Bullard
2016 - Jarrad Davis
2017 - Duke Dawson