It was an unlikely pairing – a college all-star football game and retirees. But that’s exactly what happened on Jan. 31, 2004 when The Villages Gridiron Classic was played at the polo fields.
Prior to being hosted by The Villages, the lower-level all-star game had been played in Orlando at the Citrus Bowl. But attendance had been dropping for several years, so Florida Citrus Sports worked out an arrangement to play the game at the massive retirement community.
Skeptics laughed out loud at the prospect of such a venture, but officials believed it could be a success because of the popularity of college football and the fact that Villagers had graduated from just about every university imaginable and would come out to support players from their schools.
The game – it also would return in 2005 – was played on the front polo field. The grass on the field that day would have made any groundskeeper of any professional field proud – a tribute to Don Waggoner, a retired Navy and American Airlines pilot who had been in charge of The Villages Polo Club since 1998. And once the logos were in place, the field looked like it belonged in a college stadium.
Bleachers that would hold about 12,000 fans were erected, including press boxes for ESPN, which broadcast the game, and other media. Concession stands and Jumbotrons were set up. And Villages High School football players were called into action to serve as ball boys and sell programs.
On the Friday night before the game, many Villagers witnessed a sight they thought they’d never see – hulking college football players descending on Spanish Springs Town Square and dancing the “Electric Slide” alongside surprised Villagers. That night was living proof that the skeptics were wrong and for a couple of hours, it was neat to see those college players and retirees having fun together, with generational differences off the table.
Game Day kicked off early with tailgate parties galore. Some fans from the Village of Polo Ridge actually showed up at 6:30 a.m. to get the party started. And other Villagers followed suit throughout the morning as groups enjoyed burgers, chicken wings and several cold ones before it was time to head to their seats.
As game time approached, the bleachers filled to capacity. Villagers – the majority came by golf cart, which was a source of amusement for the ESPN announces – were decked out in their school colors. And when the players took the field and the fans started wildly cheering, one would have thought he or she was at The Swamp at the University of Florida or Doak Campbell Stadium at Florida State.
The Gridiron Classic also featured two huge names in the college football coaching World, Wisconsin’s Barry Alvarez and Georgia’s Mark Richt, who would go on to coach his alma mater, the University of Miami, where as a player he was the backup quarterback to NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly.
In reality, Alvarez and Kelly actually served more as figureheads, as coaches from NFL Europe put in the real work running practices throughout the week at the Citrus Bowl in Orlando and drawing up the game plans for both teams.
At the end of the day, the North squad, led by the University of Tennessee’s Troy Fleming, erased a 10-point deficit to win over the South, 35-31. Fleming, who gained 101 yards and scored two touchdowns to earn MVP honors, was later drafted by the Tennessee Titans and played two seasons for the NFL team before being cut. The 38-year-old, who also played one season for the Denver Broncos and the Carolina Panthers, is now a coach at Concord Christian School in Knoxville, Tenn.
Another future NFL player, Wisconsin quarterback Jim Sorgi, also rose to the occasion with the game on the line. With the North squad losing, Alvarez called on his own quarterback to save the day. Sorgi, who would go onto to serve as the backup to future Hall of Famer Peyton Manning with the Indianapolis Colts and now does color commentary for the team, led an 83-yard drive to the end zone to seal the victory for his squad.
The Gridiron Classic raised $25,000 for The Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis, which was started by former Miami Dolphins linebacker Nick Buoniconti in honor of his son, Marc, who in 1985 suffered a spinal cord injury and became a quadriplegic while making a tackle for The Citadel.
The game also featured a local flair with The Villages Cheerleaders welcoming players onto the field and a young Whitney Morse, who now serves as the artistic director at The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center, singing the national anthem.
The Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders also took part in the event, turning many heads as they performed a patriotic halftime show to Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.” And golfing legend and Villager Nancy Lopez and her then-husband Ray Knight, a retired Major League Baseball star, attended the event and said they enjoyed being a part of it.
Players from both teams signed football jerseys, which were then framed and presented to the Morse family. Today, two of those jerseys hang in the men’s bathroom at the once-exclusive private Angler’s Club in Lake Sumter Landing.
