Perry Colson McGriff, Jr. (June 29, 1937 – February 2, 2017) was an American politician, retired insurance agent, and former All-American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player. McGriff was a member of the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

, Mayor of Gainesville and Democratic nominee for a seat in the

Florida Senate The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida House of Representatives being the lower house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

Early life and education

McGriff was born in

Arcadia, Florida Arcadia is a city and county seat of DeSoto County, Florida, United States. Its population was 7,637 as of the 2010 census, with an estimated population of 7,722 in 2014. Arcadia's Historic District is listed on the National Register of Histor ...

, in 1937.Florida House of Representatives
Representative Perry C. McGriff, Jr.
Retrieved May 7, 2011. He attended 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 ...

in Gainesville, where he was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Triad ...

Fraternity A fraternity (from Latin language, Latin ''wiktionary:frater, frater'': "brother (Christian), brother"; whence, "wiktionary:brotherhood, brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club (organization), club or fraternal ...

( Florida Alpha Chapter) and

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...

leadership honorary. McGriff played

for coach

Bob Woodruff Robert Warren Woodruff (born August 18, 1961) is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 alongside ABC News journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was ...

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

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

and

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, and led the Gators with fourteen

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

s for 360 receiving yards and was an honorable mention All-American in 1959.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 111, 114, 115, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 30, 2011. McGriff was also an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for coach

Dave Fuller Dave Fuller (1915 – September 15, 2009) was an American college baseball coach who led the Florida Gators baseball team of the University of Florida for twenty-eight seasons. Early life and education Fuller attended Wake Forest University i ...

Florida Gators baseball The Florida Gators baseball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of baseball. Florida competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference (S ...

team from 1958 to 1960, and was honored as a 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) selection in 1959 and 1960, a first-team All-American in 1959, and a second-team All-American in 1960. He received his bachelor's degree in physical education from Florida in 1960, and was inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great" in 1969.

Political career

McGriff, a

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, served as the 22nd district Representative in the

from 2000 to 2002. He also served as an

Alachua County, Florida Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...

, commissioner, as a Gainesville, Florida city commissioner and as Gainesville mayor.Chad Smith,
Perry McGriff will challenge Oelrich for Senate seat
" ''The Gainesville Sun'' (June 17, 2010). Retrieved May 7, 2011. In 2010, he was the unsuccessful Democratic Party nominee for Florida's 14th senate district, losing to the incumbent Republican Steve Oelrich, 46 to 54 percent. McGriff lived in Gainesville with his family. He died on February 2, 2017, at the age of 79.Former Florida Gators player and Gainesville mayor Perry McGriff Jr. dies
/ref>

References

Bibliography

*Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . *Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . *McEwen, Tom, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). .

External links

Representative Perry C. McGriff, Jr.
– Official website of Florida House of Representatives. * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGriff, Perry C. 1937 births 2017 deaths All-American college baseball players Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football players Mayors of Gainesville, Florida Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives Florida city council members County commissioners in Florida Baseball players from Gainesville, Florida People from Arcadia, Florida Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Baseball players at the 1959 Pan American Games American athlete-politicians Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Players of American football from Gainesville, Florida 21st-century American politicians Candidates in the 2010 United States elections Sarasota Sun Sox players

Early life and education

Political career

See also

References

Bibliography

External links