The Forest K. Ferguson Award, commonly known as the "Fergie Ferguson Award," is presented annually to a senior member of the

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team in memory of one of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

's greatest athletes.

Namesake

The award takes its name from

Forest K. Ferguson Forest King Ferguson, Jr. (June 21, 1919 – May 15, 1954), nicknamed Fergie Ferguson, was an American college athlete who attended the University of Florida and was a member of the university's football, boxing, and track and field teams, and l ...

, known as "Fergie" to his teammates, who was one of the University of Florida's greatest all-around athletes.
2014 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 71 & 94 (2014). Retrieved September 26, 2014. Ferguson received first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) 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 The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

(AAU) national championship in the

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the ...

in 1942. As a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

in the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, Ferguson led an infantry platoon during the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-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.MilitaryTimes.com, Hall of Valor
Forest K. Ferguson
Retrieved May 14, 2010. He was awarded the

Distinguished Service Cross The Distinguished Service Cross (D.S.C.) is a military decoration for courage. Different versions exist for different countries. *Distinguished Service Cross (Australia) The Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) is a military decoration awarded to ...

, 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.Associated Press,
Funeral Rites Held For Forrest Ferguson, Gator Grid All-America
" ''St. Petersburg Times'', p. 14 (May 20, 1954). Retrieved September 25, 2014.

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 Malcolm Eugene Hammack (June 19, 1933 – July 19, 2004) was an American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve years during the 1950s and 1960s. Hammack played college f ...

was the first recipient in 1955. Malcolm Hammack Gets First Forest Ferguson Award
" ''The News-Tribune'', p. 13 (November 13, 1955). Retrieved September 28, 2014. The recipients to date are listed below:

Award winners

1954 – Malcolm Hammack (FB)
1955 – Steve DeLaTorre (C/LB)
1956 – Larry Wesley (T)
1957 –

Jim Rountree James W. Rountree (April 24, 1936 – October 1, 2013) was an American college and professional football player who was a defensive back in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ten years during the 1950s and 1960s. Rountree played college foo ...

(HB)
1958 – Jimmy Dunn (QB)
1959 – Asa Cox (G)
1960 – Pat Patchen (E),

Vic Miranda Victor Russell "Vic" Miranda was an American college football player and insurance executive. He was a two-way lineman for coaches Bob Woodruff and Ray Graves' Florida Gators football teams. A native of Miami, Miranda faced assault charges as ...

(T)
1961 –

Jim Beaver James Norman Beaver Jr. (born August 12, 1950) is an American actor, writer, and film historian. He is most familiar to worldwide audiences as Bobby Singer in ''Supernatural''. He also played Whitney Ellsworth on the HBO Western drama series '' ...

(T)
1962 – Sam Holland (E)
1963 – Jimmy Morgan (LB), Hagood Clarke (HB)
1964 –

Larry Dupree Lawrence Wallace Dupree (December 22, 1943 – June 15, 2014) was an American college football player. He played at the halfback and fullback positions for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida. In 1964, he became the ...

(FB)
1965 – Charles Casey (E)
1966 –

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former American football, football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often ...

(QB)
1967 – Richard Trapp (E)
1968 –

Guy Dennis Guy Durell Dennis (born February 28, 1947) is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons during the 1960s and 1970s. Dennis played college ...

(G), Larry Smith (RB)
1969 – Steve Tannen (DB)
1970 –

Jack Youngblood Herbert Jackson Youngblood III (born January 26, 1950) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He ...

(DE)
1971 –

John Reaves Thomas Johnson "John" Reaves (March 2, 1950 – August 1, 2017) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and three seasons in the United States Football L ...

(QB)
1972 –

Fred Abbott Harry Frederick Abbott (October 22, 1874 – June 11, 1935) was an American Major League Baseball catcher. Born Harry Frederick Winbigler, he played three seasons of Major League baseball for the Cleveland Naps and the Philadelphia Phillies. H ...

(LB)
1973 – David Hitchcock (NG)
1974 –

Lee McGriff Lee Colson McGriff (born October 3, 1953) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1976. McGriff played college football for the Florida ...

(SE)
1975 – Jimmy DuBose (FB)
1976 – Jimmy Fisher (QB)
1977 –

Wes Chandler Wesley Sandy Chandler (born August 22, 1956) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons during the 1970s and 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl four t ...

(SE)
1978 – Mike Dupree (DE)
1979 – Chuck Hatch (DB)
1980 – David Little (LB)
1981 – Brian Clark (PK)
1982 – James Jones (FB)
1983 –

Dwayne Dixon Dwayne Keith Dixon (born August 2, 1962) is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League. He played college football for the University of F ...

(WR)
1984 – Gary Rolle (WR)
1985 –

Neal Anderson Charles Neal Anderson (born August 14, 1964) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Anderson played college football for ...

(RB)
1986 –

Ricky Nattiel Ricky Rennard Nattiel ( ; born January 25, 1966), nicknamed "Ricky the Rocket", is an American former college and professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons during the 1980s and 19 ...

(WR)
1987 –

Kerwin Bell Kerwin Douglas Bell (born June 15, 1965) is an American football coach and former player who has been the head coach of the Western Carolina Catamounts football team since 2021. Bell was born in the rural North Central Florida town of Live Oak ...

(QB)
1988 –

Louis Oliver Louis Oliver, III (born March 9, 1966) is an American former college and professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Oliver played college football for the ...

(DB)
1989 – John Durden (OT)
1990 – Kirk Kirkpatrick (TE)
1991 –

Cal Dixon Calvert Ray Dixon, III (born October 11, 1969) is an American former college and professional football player who was an offensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) for five seasons during the 1990s. Dixon played college football ...

William Gaines William Maxwell Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992), was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically import ...

(DT)
1994 – Michael Gilmore (DB)
1995 – Ben Hanks (LB)
1996 – James Bates (LB)
1997 – Dwayne Thomas (LB)
1998 – Willie Cohens (DE)
1999 – Cheston Blackshear (OG)
2000 – Jesse Palmer (QB)
2001 – Rob Roberts (FB)
2002 – Byron Hardmon (LB)
2003 – Daryl Dixon (FS)
2004 – Ciatrick Fason (RB)
2005 – Jarvis Herring (S)
2006 –

Jemalle Cornelius Jemalle Cornelius (born August 10, 1984) is a former American college and professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver. Cornelius played college football for the University of Florida, and was signed by the Buffalo Bi ...

(WR)
2007 –

Andre Caldwell Andre Jerome "Bubba" Caldwell (born April 15, 1985), is a former professional American football player who was a wide receiver and kickoff returner in the National Football League (NFL). Caldwell played college football for the Florida Gator ...

(WR)
2008 –

Louis Murphy Louis Morris Murphy Jr. (born May 11, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football for the University of Florida, where he was a member of two BCS National Championship teams. The Oakland Raiders drafted him i ...

(WR)
2009 – Ryan Stamper (LB)
2010 –

Justin Trattou Justin Trattou (born August 28, 1988) is a former American football defensive end. He played college football for the University of Florida. He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2011. He later played with the Minn ...

(DE)
2011 –

John Brantley John Brantley, IV (born March 3, 1989) is a former American football quarterback. He played college football at Florida from 2008 to 2011. He was signed by the Baltimore Ravens after going undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft but was released befor ...

(QB), LB Lerentee McCray (LB)
2012 –

Sharrif Floyd Sharrif Kalil Floyd (born May 28, 1991) is a former American football defensive tackle. He played college football for the University of Florida, where he was recognized as an All-American in 2012. Floyd was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in ...

(DL),

Jon Bostic Jonathan Earl Bostic II (born May 5, 1991) is an American football linebacker who is a free agent. He played college football at Florida and was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Bostic has also been a mem ...

(LB), Frankie Hammond (WR), Josh Evans (DB)
2013 – Jeremy Brown (DB), Kyle Koehne (OL), Darrin Kitchens (LB)
2014 –

Max Garcia Max Garcia (born November 9, 1991) is an American football guard who is a free agent. He was a team captain at Florida, where he was recognized as second-team all-SEC in 2014. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round, 133rd ove ...

(OL)
2015 – Jon Bullard (DL)
2016 – Jarrad Davis (LB)
2017 –

Duke Dawson Duke Dawson (born October 13, 1995) is an American football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Florida Gators football, Florida. Early years Dawson is from Cross City, Flo ...

(DB)

References

External links

A Memorial Day Salute to FOrrest "Fergie" Ferguson at floridagators.com
{{Florida Gators football navbox College football awards Florida Gators football 1954 establishments in Florida

Namesake

Award

Award winners

See also

References

External links