The Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame inducted its 2024 class on Nov. 1, and the group can probably best be described as “winners.”
Fred Weary and Mike Peterson were introduced as the Florida Gators’ inductees, and both were teammates on defense when the Gators won the school’s first national championship in 1996.
Weary set a school record 15 career interceptions and looked back on his first appearance in a game and how he inserted himself onto the field and wound up never losing his starting spot from then on.
“We ended up losing the game, but I ended up getting SEC defensive player of the week,” Weary said. “It was thanks to the confidence that I had, and I knew if I could just show them what I was doing in practice, I could also do it in the game. If you all have confidence in what you’re doing, I want you to please put your mind on it and go do it, because without that self-confidence I had, I wouldn’t be up here today.”
Peterson had Jacksonville ties from the time he spent in the NFL as a member with the Jaguars, and even had one of his former Jaguars’ teammates Marcus Stroud in attendance, which he made sure to mention during his acceptance speech with Stroud having played at Georgia.
“We all know Marcus likes to talk a lot, he’s a big d-lineman, and they always seem to like to talk,” Peterson chuckled. “But I figured out a trick if you want to get a former Georgia player to quit talking, just ask them what’s your record against the Gators? By the way, I’m 3-1 (against Georgia).”
However, Peterson was not the only one with Jacksonville close to his heart among this year’s inductees, as Jacksonville native and Bolles School graduate Mike Fisher represented the Bulldogs.
The defensive back is best known for being a member of the famed “Junkyard Dogs” defense at Georgia and for sealing the 1980 national championship with a late interception in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame.
Bill Goldberg was the second Georgia representative in this year’s class and is also a member of the WWE Hall of Fame after a career in professional wrestling and is an actor.
He played defensive tackle for the Bulldogs and went 3-1 against the Gators in the late ‘80s.
“I’m a defensive lineman, not a wrestler or and actor, or a commentator, and I will be one until the day I die,” Goldberg said. “I’m appreciative of that, proud of that, and thankful for that. I made it a mission of mine through all my exploits to try and set an example not just for kids, but for little Jewish kids to know that they could break the stereotype. That’s the great thing about football, it doesn’t matter who you or where you come from, it just matters who’s next to you and who you represent.”
