Great Floridians list shifts to good sports

Published: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 4:16 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 at 7:37 p.m.

Last week, Gov. Rick Scott declared Tim Tebow an official Great Floridian, along with the state's co-founders, Walt Disney and Juan Ponce de Leon. This week, the Jets quarterback was cut from the team.

Such are the vicissitudes of fame.

The Great Floridians list started in 1981 with LeRoy Collins. By law, representatives of the governor, Cabinet, secretary of state, speaker of the House and Senate president must come up with at least two names for inclusion.

The Scott administration ran with this mandate enthusiastically and the number of Great Floridians ballooned. Of the 89 Great Floridians on the list, 30 were named under Scott.

The statute leaves the criteria for greatness pretty open. Great Ones must have "made major contributions to the progress of the nation or this state and its citizens."

So how does one make a major contribution?

Mostly through football.

Of the 23 Great Floridians named last week, Tebow was notable for still being on the field. Derrick Brooks is retired, as is Emmitt Smith.

Tony Dungy and Don Shula coached. Steve Spurrier played and coached. Wayne Huizenga owned teams – and has donated millions to Republican political action committees. And finally there's Dr. James Robert Cade who developed Gatorade for football players.

And last year, FSU Coach Bobby Bowden was named a Great Floridian.

But being a Great Floridian is not just about throwing a ball. It's about hitting a ball, too. Golfer Gerry Lester "Bubba" Watson Jr. also was honored last week.

Normally a governor or two makes the list. Not this time.

Scott is pretty unpopular so it was probably best to stay away from politics and stick to football. And agriculture: Charles Bronson (the previous agricultural commissioner, not the actor) was named this year along with Ruth Springer Wedgworth, organizer of the Florida Celery Exchange.

Still, even if Florida politicians may present problems with partisanship, colorful behavior and statements that might be mined by commentators for cheap laughs, there surely are a few areas of noncontroversial, nonpolitical greatness beyond the gridiron and celery field. There isn't one musician on the list. Why isn't Ray Charles a Great Floridian?

But then the same can be said of Napoleon Bonaparte Broward, Osceola, the Ringling Brothers, John D. MacDonald, Lue Gim Gong, John Pennekamp, Robert King High, William Bartram, George Edgar Merrick, James Weldon Johnson, Stephen Mallory, David Levy Yulee, Judah P. Benjamin and Jim Morrison of the Doors. Just to quickly mention a few notable Floridians with minimal football skills.

And while Tebow has the distinction of being the only Great Floridian whose name became a verb, there should be other considerations.

He's only 25. Unless you start a nation or cure a major disease, greatness in one's 20s should be considered provisional. Even in Florida. Even in football. I mean, what if he's elected governor and becomes even less liked than Scott? We'd be stuck with his officially bestowed greatness. The man likely has a lot of years ahead of him, and who knows how he'll do in his post-football career?

I do hope he finds another job soon, though. It would be terrible symbolism for a Great Floridian to stay unemployed.


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