82 LIFE AND WORK OF DR. A. A. MURPHREE

way after the game, arriving home about three in the morn-
ing, if we did not do the wiser thing and stay all night in the
city. But both Dr. and ,Mrs. Murphree met such a football
trip with genuine enjoyment.
 "Back in the early days we played Georgia, Suwanee,
Auburn and Clemson quite regularly every year. And each
of these teams used to defeat us almost as regularly. But
winning or losing, it was the same with Dr. Murphree. He
loved the game and never lost interest in it. He was always
telling the boys, 'Take heart, we will win some day.' And
the last half dozen years have seen the 'Gators' hold their own
with the best of them.
 "I recall Dr. Murphree's feelings to which he gave vent
just before the Alabama game in Montgomery this year. He
urged the men of the team to pull together and to forget any
differences that might be affecting the morale of the squad.
After the men had scampered out on the field at the conclusion
of his speech, he turned to me and said, 'Klein, I am afraid I
used too strong language, but I forgot myself.' I assured him
that what he said would do the team good. At any rate, this
game was won for Florida to the astonishment of the whole
South, and the unbounded joy of Dr. Murphree."
 "It seemed to be traditional that if Dr. Murphree accom-
 panied the football team to Alabama the 'Fighting Gators'
 would come back with the winning score," said Captain Ever-
 ett Yon, director of athletics for the last two years and an old
 Florida football star himself. "At any rate, on the three
 occasions when Dr. Murphree accompanied the squad up to
 play the Crimson Tide of Old 'Bama, we won. The first time
 the score was 9-2; the second score was 16-6; and this last
 game we beat them 13-6.
 "Whenever Dr. Murphree accompanied a team from the
 University, he inspired them to do their best," Captain Yon
 continued. "That spirit of co-operation I personally felt dur-
 ing the time I was athletic director under his administration.
 I did not hesitate to go to him with any problems, and I knew
 that he would shoot square and to the point. Lucky is any
 University that has as its head a man who understands ath-
 letics and is as co-operative in the solution of its problems as
 was President Murphree."