“Two-bits! Four-bits! Six-bits! A dollar! All for the Gators, stand up and holler!”

If you read that line in a certain cadence, with the mental image of a yellow-shirted man bringing 90,000 passionate people to their feet, pride swelling in your chest, and a beaming smile on your face—you might just be a Florida Gator.

Whether your wardrobe is primarily orange and blue or you just love a good college football game on TV, Gator traditions, chants, and cheers are something every Floridian knows and treasures (unless, of course, they root for that other school). 

The Origins of Mr. Two Bits

Florida’s most legendary game-day ritual is indisputably the Two-Bits cheer, a tradition that came about organically and from a very unlikely source: an insurance salesman from Tampa, Florida, who was never actually a University of Florida student.

George Edmondson—better known to the Gator Nation as Mr. Two Bits—first attended a game in 1949 after being invited by a friend with extra tickets. He was dismayed to witness the crowd of fans booing the (admittedly struggling) team. 

Reflecting on the experience in a video, Edmondson recalls, “When the announcer said, ‘Heeeeere come the Gators!’ they’d run out on the field and everybody would boo. They’d announce the coach, and everybody would boo. I said, ‘Good gracious alive, what’s everybody booing about?!’ Well, they were down on the team. They were there, but down on the team.

“I said, ‘Shoot, I’ve never booed in my life and I’m not going to start now. They’re just kids out there playing; let’s cheer for them. … Let’s cheer every time they do something wrong. … Everybody knows two bits, four bits from high school—let’s do that.’”

Any time the Gators fumbled, Edmondson rallied whoever was around him to join in the cheer, attempting to boost morale. Other spectators assumed they were drunk, but eventually the cheer caught on like wildfire. The Gators won that game against The Citadel and the rest is history.

“It was really remarkable,” Edmondson recalled. “And it kept going and it kept building and pyramiding until it built to what it is today.”

Mr. Two Bits went on to become an indispensable fixture of The Swamp for more than 60 years, though he never accepted compensation of any sort for his role. He retired from leading the cheer in 2008 and passed away in 2019 at the age of 97, but his legacy lives on—still as much a part of game days as the Gator chomp.

A Lasting Legacy

The enduring inspiration of his legacy can’t be overstated, according to my childhood bestie, Elizabeth Yawman, who graduated from the University of Florida in 2016 and was inducted into the UF Hall of Fame in 2017 for her leadership and service as a student. She also served on local alumni boards after graduation.

“George and his wife, Jane, created a Mr. Two Bits Scholarship for UF cheerleaders, and he was named an honorary alumnus and inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame,” she shares. “There’s also a mural of him—in his iconic game-day uniform of a yellow shirt, orange-and-blue striped tie, whistle, and 2-Bits sign, of course—inside Gate 1 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.”

Today, the University recruits students and VIPs (like NFL stars, Olympic athletes, and high-profile alumni) to lead the Two-Bits cheer and rile up the crowd, and it’s always done in the spirit of Florida pride with no ulterior financial motive, as Edmondson himself established.

“People want to know what I get out of doing this,” the late Edmondson shared. “I do not get free tickets, and I don’t get free parking, and I don’t get paid—simply because I wouldn’t have it any other way. If I were being paid some way, then I’d be really obligated to do what I’m doing, and what I do is from the heart.”

Just one more reason it’s great to be a Florida Gator.

Read the original article on Southern Living