Mr. Two Bits

George E. Edmondson Jr. (July 17, 1922 – July 2, 2019) was an insurance salesman from Tampa, Florida who was known to the University of Florida community as "Mr. Two Bits". Edmondson was a fan of the Florida Gators football team, for which he led a traditional "Two Bits' cheer" at football games beginning in 1949. Though he began the practice in an unofficial capacity, it eventually became so popular among fans at Florida Field that he was invited to lead the cheer from midfield before games, which he did from the mid-1970s until 2008. Citing health concerns, he retired from the role after the 2008 season and died in 2019.

Beginning in 2009, a series of University of Florida students and famous alumni have taken over the Mr. Two Bits role during pregame festivities at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, which higher profile "Guest Mr. Two-Bits" usually tapped to lead the cheer before higher profile games. Edmondson's cheer and distinctive orange-and-blue-striped tie became so popular that they have been used by the university as a symbol of alumni support.

Early life George Edmondson was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and his family moved to Tampa, Florida when he was an infant. He attended The Citadel military school for two years, but with the beginning of World War II, he enlisted in the United States Navy and eventually became a pilot flying Grumman F6F Hellcat carrier-based fighter planes in the Pacific theater of war. The Gators had lost five of their last six games the previous year and were not expected to do any better. When the fans booed the players and the coach even before the opening kickoff, Edmondson decided to boost their morale by leading them in a cheer about adding up bits (a "bit" is an eighth of a dollar, so eight of them would indeed total one dollar). The Gators won the game, and fans were so enthusiastic about Edmondson's cheer that he returned the next Saturday to lead it again. Edmondson continued leading the cheer at almost every Gator home game and selected road and bowl games over the next several decades. Beginning In the late 1970s, the university invited him to lead the entire crowd in the two-bits cheer from midfield as part of pregame festivities.

Edmondson was never paid for his services, and even after becoming an integral part of Florida's gameday traditions, he insisted on paying for his tickets like any other fan. Edmondson did not perform the cheer again following his second retirement, saying at the time that "at 86 years of age, I've got to slow down. Nothing is forever." Edmondson and his wife, Jane, attended a few Gator home games in the season after his retirement, but thereafter watched the contests on television from their home in Tampa.

Cheer Edmondson used a similar routine whether he led his cheer from the stands or from the field. During the game, he would walk through the stands, wait for a break in the action, then draw attention to himself and silence the crowd by holding up a small orange and blue sign reading "2 Bits" and blowing a whistle. (He used a bugle during his first few years, but found a whistle to be easier to carry. ) Once the surrounding fans quieted down, Mr. Two Bits prompted them to yell each line of the cheer with arm waves and fist pumps, encouraging them to roar after the last line.

When performing during pre-game festivities, Mr. Two Bits would be introduced and energetically jog to midfield wearing his signature outfit. Then, using the same whistle and sign and even more vigorous arm waving, he would lead the entire Florida Field crowd in the cheer. Usually, his routine came just before the entrance of the Gator football team and the opening kickoff.

As performed at the University of Florida, the Two Bits cheer is as follows: "Two Bits! Four Bits! Six Bits! A Dollar! All for the Gators, stand up and holler!"

Outfit During his time as Mr. Two Bits, Edmonson wore a distinctive outfit consisting of a long-sleeved yellow dress shirt, an orange and blue tie, white-and-blue-striped seersucker pants, and black-and-white saddle shoes to every Gator game. This was standard attire for college football fans when he started performing the cheer in the late 1940s, and he continued to wear his "lucky" outfit to stand out in the crowd after his cheer became popular. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as an "honorary letter winner" in 1992. When he died on July 2, 2019, at the age of 96, his death received coverage in national sports media.

George and Jane Edmondson established the Mr. Two Bits Scholarship Fund, which benefits a University of Florida cheerleader every year.

Celebrity Mr. Two-Bits After Edmondson's 2008 retirement, costumed mascot Albert the Alligator donned a special Mr. Two Bits outfit to lead a pregame two-bits cheer from the field. Since 2013, Albert has been joined during pregame festivities by a famous alumnus or a student contest winner to serve as a "Celebrity Mr. Two Bits" for the day. These special guests usually wear similar clothing to that worn by the original Mr. Two Bits, and lead the crowd in the cheer in a similar whistle-blowing and arm-waving fashion. A few of the guest Mr. Two Bits have also wandered through the stands to lead various sections in the cheer like Edmondson once did.

Most Celebrity Mr. Two-Bits honorees have been popular former Gator athletic stars. The list includes Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Danny Wuerffel, All-American and NFL Pro Bowler Cris Collinsworth, professional golfer Chris Dimarco, Olympic medal-winning swimmer Dara Torres, and members of Florida's back-to-back NCAA champion basketball team. Heisman Trophy winning player and national championship winning coach Steve Spurrier was the Celebrity Mr. Two Bits at the first game of the 2016 season, when the field was rechristened "Steve Spurrier – Florida Field" in his honor. Since 2014, a current UF student has been selected to be the guest Mr. Two Bits for one game per season. Also since 2014, the guest Mr. Two Bits for a home game near to Veterans Day has been a veteran with close ties to the university.

+ 2013 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 8/31 Toledo Errict Rhett 9/21 Tennessee Danny Wuerffel 10/5 Arkansas Chris DiMarco 11/9 Vanderbilt Chris Doering 11/23 Georgia Southern Wes Chandler 11/30 Florida State Carlos Alvarez

+ 2014 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/6 Eastern Michigan Josh Comiter (UF Student) 9/13 Kentucky Thaddeus Bullard (Titus O'Neill) 10/11 LSU Stacey Nelson & Hannah Rogers 10/18 Missouri Lito Sheppard 11/15 South Carolina Matt Elam 11/22 Eastern Kentucky Bill Ebersole (UF alumnus, World War II veteran)

+ 2015 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/5 New Mexico State Bill Carr 9/12 East Carolina Michael Cizek (UF student) 9/26 Tennessee Alex Brown 10/3 Ole Miss Dominique Easley 11/7 Vanderbilt Matt LaPorta 11/21 FAU Sgt. Corey Garmon (Army veteran) 11/28 Florida State Kent Fuchs

+ 2016 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/3 UMass Steve Spurrier 9/10 Kentucky 2006 National Champion UF Men's Basketball Team 9/17 North Texas Christopher Yanes (UF student) 10/15 Missouri Brandon Siler 11/12 South Carolina Christian Taylor & Kerron Clement

+ 2017 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/16 Tennessee Caeleb Dressel 9/30 Vanderbilt Jordan Walker & Ryan Colon (UF students) 10/7 LSU Alex Faedo 10/14 Texas A&M Dara Torres 11/18 UAB Bill Wood (UF athlete, Korean War veteran) 11/25 Florida State Jimmy DuBose

+ 2018 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/1 Charleston Southern Cris Collinsworth 9/8 Kentucky Bridget Sloan 9/15 Colorado State Jonathan Frish (UF student) 10/6 LSU Louis Murphy 11/3 Missouri Angela McGinnis 11/10 South Carolina Brady Singer 11/17 Idaho Dave Kratzer (Retired UF employee & US Army veteran)

+ 2019 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/7 UT Martin The Edmondson family(1st game after death of George Edmondson) 9/21 Tennessee Grant Holloway 9/28 Towson Austin Barton (UF student) 10/5 Auburn Brittany & Billy Horschel 11/9 Vanderbilt Ike Hilliard 11/30 Florida State Percy Harvin

+ 2020 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 10/3 South Carolina Stuart Hall (COVID-19 Survivor, Cameron Hall's Father - UF Soccer Midfielder) 10/31 Missouri Jack Youngblood 11/14 Arkansas Sandra Torres-Pintos (Marine Corps veteran) 11/28 Kentucky David Steinfeldt (UF student) 12/12 LSU Laura Rutledge

+ 2021 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/4 FAU Leonard George & Willie Jackson 9/18 Alabama Bradley Beal 9/25 Tennessee Sue Halfacre, Cherrietta Prince, & Nancy Thayer (Women's sports pioneers at UF) 10/9 Vanderbilt 2020 Olympic medalists Caeleb Dressel, Bobby Finke, Natalie Hinds, Grant Holloway, Mark Kolozsvary, Taylor Manson, Aubree Munro, & Kieran Smith 11/13 Samford Joshua Avera, Brandon Roberts, & Eric Stafeld (UF ROTC) 11/27 Florida State Lomas Brown

+ 2022 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/3 Utah Reidel Anthony 9/10 Kentucky Mike Holloway 9/17 USF Ben Shelton 10/2 Eastern Washington Todd Eckstein & Kendra Vincent (Alachua County Teachers of the Year) 10/8 Missouri Chandler Parsons 10/15 LSU Mick Hubert 11/12 South Carolina Meghan Kilpatrick, Jack McBrayer, Daniel Tomberg, & Maddie Kuennen (UF ROTC)

+ 2023 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 9/9 McNeese State Fred Biondi 9/16 Tennessee Trey Burton 9/23 Charlotte Dr. Karen Kearney (2023 Alachua County Teacher of the Year) 10/7 Vanderbilt Lauren Embree 11/4 Arkansas Eric Pugh, Alexander Quinones, Gabrielle Sasson, & Julian Trerotola (UF ROTC) 11/25 Florida State Brandon Spikes

+ 2024 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 8/31 Miami Jevon Kearse 9/7 Samford Dwynette Smith (2024 Alachua County Teacher of the Year) 9/14 Texas A&M Emmitt Smith 10/5 UCF 2024 Olympians from UF 10/19 Kentucky John L. Williams 11/16 LSU Rex Grossman 11/23 Ole Miss Major Wright

+ 2025 Honorary Mr. Two Bits 8/30 LIU Ahmad Black 9/6 USF Monica Benson (2025 Alachua County Teacher of the Year) 10/4 Texas Keanu Neal 10/18 Mississippi State Lauren Haeger 11/22 Tennessee Jemalle Cornelius 11/29 FSU Noah Brindise