Florida - Georgia Hall of Fame

Friday, October 28, 2011
Ceremony begins at 12 noon in the Touchdown Showdown Tent in Pepsi Plaza (next to Everbank Field).  General admission is free.  Reserved seating is $50.  Corporate tables (10 seats) are $500.  For more information, call the JEDC Sports & Entertainment office at (904) 630-3600.

The Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame will be on display Saturday, October 29 at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is free. 

The 2011 inductees include:

Kevin Carter – University of Florida, 1991-1994
Carter accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a four-year letterman for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1991 to 1994. During his four seasons as a Gator, the team won three Southeastern Conference (SEC) championships (1991, 1993, 1994).

In his freshman season, Carter played in eleven games and started two, and tallied fourteen tackles. Following his sophomore season in 1992, he was a second-team All-SEC selection and a Football News honorable mention All-American after compiling sixty-four tackles (thirty-eight solo), twelve forced quarterback hurries, 3.5 sacks and six tackles for a loss. As a junior in 1993, he made fifty-nine tackles (11.5 for losses), 6.5 sacks, twelve pressures and blocked a field goal, and was recognized as a first-team All-SEC Selection. As a senior in 1994, Carter was a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American. Football News named him one of five finalists for its 1994 Defensive Player of the Year Award, and he was a semifinalist for the 1994 Lombardi Award, presented to the nation's top lineman. His 42.5 career tackles for loss and 21.5 quarterback sacks ranked seventh and fifth, respectively, in Gators history. Carter's 11.5 sacks in 1994 were then the third-best seasonal total in school history. He started thirty-eight of his last thirty-nine games at defensive end.

Carter served as president of the University of Florida chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In 2000, Carter was voted to the Florida Gator All-Century Team and in 2006 he was voted to the University of Florida Gator 100th Anniversary Team. Carter was inducted into the University of Florida Sports Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2004.

The St. Louis Rams selected Carter in the first round (sixth pick overall) of the 1995 NFL Draft.  During his rookie year with the Rams, Carter ranked second on the team and second among rookies with six sacks, while posting 50 tackles, two forced fumbles, one safety and one fumble recovery. In his fourteen-season NFL career, Carter played in 224 regulars season games, starting in 219 of them. He totaled 104.5 career sacks, reaching double digits four times (1998–2000, 2002) and leading his team five times (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004).

Nat Moore – University of Florida, 1972-1973
On the recommendation of his junior college football coach, Moore received an athletic scholarship to transfer to the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he was a star running back for coach Doug Dickey's Florida Gators football team in 1972 and 1973. As a junior in 1972, Moore led the Gators with 145 rushes for 845 yards and nine rushing touchdowns, twenty-five receptions for 351 receiving yards and four touchdown catches, and 230 return yards, while earning first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and honorable mention All-American accolades.

A native of Tallahassee, Florida, Moore graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in exercise and sports science in 1975, and he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1978.

Moore was chosen by the Miami Dolphins in the third round (seventy-eighth pick overall) of the 1974 NFL Draft, and he played for the Dolphins for thirteen seasons from 1974 to 1986. He was elected to the Pro Bowl in 1977, after a season in which he made fifty-two receptions and led the league with twelve receiving touchdowns (he also had a rushing touchdown that year).

By the time Moore retired at the end of 1986, his thirteenth season with the Dolphins, he had broken almost every receiving record of the Dolphins. His final career receiving statistics were 510 catches for 7,547 yards and seventy-four touchdowns. He also rushed for 249 yards and a touchdown, returned twenty-seven punts for 297 yards, and gained 856 yards on thirty-three kickoff returns.

Moore is also known for his humanitarian work and philanthropy. In 1984, the NFL voted Moore as "Man of the Year," an honor given to a player who gives outstanding service to his community. Moore also received the Byron White Humanitarian Award in 1986. In 1998, he created The Nat Moore Foundation, an organization which works with disadvantaged youths in the Miami-Dade County area. On December 5, 1999 he was added to the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll.

John Brantley – University of Georgia, 1984-87
A four year letter-winner for the University of Georgia, John Brantley was a standout linebacker during the mid-1980’s. He recorded two of the top four single season tackle totals in Georgia history with 160 tackles in 1986 and 154 in 1987.  His 415 career tackles stills stands as the fourth best career total for any Georgia Bulldog defensive player. 

A native of Wildwood, Florida, Brantley was named All-SEC and Georgia's Most Outstanding Defensive player following both the 1986 and 1987 campaigns. He was also elected by his teammates as the Bulldogs' defensive captain in 1987, the same season he was named the Defensive MVP of the Liberty Bowl after leading the Georgia defense in a 20-17 victory over Arkansas.

Brantley played some of his best football when the Bulldogs returned to his home state. Most notably, he recorded a team-high seven tackles and notched both a tackle-for-loss and a sack when the Bulldogs upset the top-ranked Gators, 24-3, in 1985. He also helped Georgia to a 23-10 win in Jacksonville as a senior in 1987.

Brantley was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 1988 NFL draft and also played with the Washington Redskins and the Cincinnati Bengals during a four-year NFL career. After retiring from football, Brantley returned to the Athens area. He remains an active supporter of the program and helped spearhead the Bulldogs' initial involvement to build a home through Habitat for Humanity in 2002.

Bill Saye – University of Georgia, 1953-55
There could hardly be a Bulldog football letterman whose life is more indelibly linked to Sanford Stadium and the long-time traditions of Georgia football than Bill Saye, a life-long Bulldog loyalist. 

Saye was born in Athens, played in the culvert which runs underneath Sanford Stadium and later played on the field for eight years—four as a Trojan at old Athens High School and four as a Georgia Bulldog.   At Athens High, he made All-State and played in the 1952 Georgia High School All-Star game.   The University of Georgia was eager to sign this home grown over-achiever.

Saye’s goal was always to play between the hedges for the University of Georgia.  However, he reserved his greatest performance in the old Gator Bowl in Jacksonville in 1954 against favored Florida.  Bill originally thought he had intercepted 3 passes (one was overruled by an official) from his linebacker position. Along with the two interceptions Saye recovered a fumble and got his hand on a PAT attempt which was the difference in the game, Georgia winning 14-13. 

Herman Hickman, a sports columnist for Sports Illustrated, covered the game and wrote:  “The Gators’ hopes of gaining a conference title and bowl bid turned dark.  A Georgia center named Bill Saye turned out the lights.”  Saye was the difference in the game, playing every snap in the game from scrimmage and also was the long snapper throughout the afternoon.

After lettering three years for the Bulldogs and earning a degree, Saye coached high school football and enjoyed a successful business career with General Wholesale in Atlanta.   He retired to his hometown of Athens in 2006.