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

he especially liked football. We could count on him to back
us at all times. When he went with the Gator team on a trip
he ate and slept with us all the way through.
 "The most impressive moment I have experienced was
on Grant Field in Atlanta, just before the Florida-Georgia
Tech game in 1924. The players had already been inspired
by talks from the coaches and different members of the team,
followed by a prayer. Then Dr. Murphree gave them his
speech. He got up with tears in his eyes and pleaded with
them to do their best to win for Florida.
 "He told them that as a football team they represented
Florida just as the undaunted southerners represented the
South in the Civil War, and just as the doughboys represented
America in the World War. He said this was not simply a
game between two colleges, but was a contest for supremacy
which was being watched by the entire country. Needless to
say, the Fighting Gators fought that day."
 The final crowning event of the football season at the Uni-
versity of Florida has been the banquet which Dr. Murphree
made an annual affair for the football squad. These annual
dinners were looked forward to by the "Fighting Gators" as
eagerly as the winning of a victory on the gridiron. Besides
the members of the squad and the coaches, Dr. Murphree reg-
ularly invited the members of the faculty athletic committee,
a few of the leading business men and sports enthusiasts of
Gainesville and a few distinguished guests.
 The 1927 banquet was given at the White House hotel on
 the evening of Monday, December 5. The proceedings at
 this dinner were typical of what was enjoyed by athletes,
 coaches and guests every year at this affair. Dr. Murphree
 made a speech commending the members of the team on their
 victorious season. Every football season was victorious at
 the Murphree banquet! For no matter how many defeats
 there have been, a joyous spirit has been maintained at the
 banquets. During this last season, however, the victory side
 far outweighed the defeat side in games won and points
 scored. Dr. Murphree told the Fighting Gators that he was
 proud of them-proud of their spirit, proud of the Florida
 tradition of giving the best that they had to the game, which
 they had so nobly exemplified in the 1927 season.