A new No. 11 at QB for Gators

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  • Steve Spurrier is the last quarterback to wear No. 11 as Florida's starter. (ATHLON SPORTS)
    Steve Spurrier is the last quarterback to wear No. 11 as Florida's starter. (ATHLON SPORTS)
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GAINESVILLE — History will be made at the Florida-Tennessee game on Saturday.

Gators quarterback Kyle Trask is making his career start, a moment that also holds significance because of his jersey number.

The redshirt junior wears No. 11, and he knows the background behind it.

“Absolutely,” Trask said. “For sure.”

Trask will be the first quarterback to start a game for the Gators wearing No. 11 in more than 50 years. The last player to do it?

Steve Spurrier in 1966.

“I guess he’ll be the first starter to wear it since I did,” Spurrier told the Lake City Reporter.

UF retired Spurrier’s number after his graduation, but the former Gators coach made No. 11 available again in 1992. Several players have worn it since then, including Jordan Reed in 2010, but no one has started under center until Trask.

He received the number by chance.

“I actually wore No. 18 in high school,” Trask said. “When I got here as a freshman, they kind of give you a number. Luckily I got No. 11, which I thought was pretty cool. I just stuck with that.”

The jersey meant much more to Spurrier.

He played football, basketball and baseball throughout his high school career and wore No. 11 in all three sports. Spurrier wanted the number at UF, but didn’t get it right away.

Back then, college rosters were split into freshman and varsity teams.

“When we took our first picture as a freshman team, I actually wore No. 16,” Spurrier said. “We actually had five quarterbacks on the freshman team when I got to Florida. One of the guys came during summer school and already had No. 11.”

The player’s name was Allen Kelly, and Spurrier made a deal with him. If he won the starting job on the freshman team, he would get his favorite jersey.

Kelly agreed. A couple days later, however, Florida’s equipment manager had a surprise for Spurrier.

“I went down to the locker room and he threw out No. 11 to me,” Spurrier recalled. “And I said, ‘No, I’m supposed to have No. 16.’ And he said, ‘No, the head coach said from now on, you’re No. 11.’”

Spurrier had his father, Rev. J. Graham Spurrier, to thank for it.

“Well, my dad knew Coach (Ray) Graves well,” Spurrier said. “He was still on campus after dropping me off, and I think he mentioned I’d really love to have the number if it’s possible. The next day, I had it.”

The rest, as they say, is history. Spurrier became a unanimous first-team All-American at UF, winning the school’s first Heisman Trophy.

“I became the starter on the freshman team, so I would’ve gotten No. 11 anyway,” Spurrier said. “I was very appreciative when Florida decided to retire my number. I guess I was the first ever to have it retired. For some reason, they wanted to do it.”

When Spurrier returned to his alma mater as head coach, he said the school was debating whether it should retire numbers for Emmitt Smith or Carlos Alvarez. Instead, Spurrier suggested unretiring No. 11 and No. 55, worn by former Gators linebacker Scot Brantley.

“So we brought back both of our numbers,” Spurrier said. “The first player that wore No. 11 was Ben Hanks. We never signed a quarterback out of high school who wore No. 11, so none of our guys ever had it when I was here. 

“Mostly defensive players have worn it all these years until Kyle Trask got here. I think he’ll play well. He’s a very smart quarterback and everybody here has a lot of confidence in him.”