How a podcast community helped restore the controversial 'Gator Bait' chant for Florida football team
The year was dominated by the Covid craziness that swept through the world as well as the myriad "cancellings" that took place, and college football in particular felt the effects of both.Games and traditions alike were severely altered or outright shut down as a result of the pandemic and its accompanying lunacy, and the Florida Gators' football program especially felt the brunt of this.COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S FIRST FULL SATURDAY IS HERE AND IT'S A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA AT ITS BESTA general view of fans on campus at the University of Florida before the start of a game between the Florida Gators and the Texas Longhorns at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Oct.04, 2025 in Gainesville, Fla.
(James Gilbert/Getty Images)Sure, the Gators still played a ten game, All SEC slate, but access to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium was greatly limited, as the stadium which normally seats upwards of 90,000 fans on gameday had its attendance whittled down to less than 20,000.In the wake of all of this, a tradition known affectionately around campus and throughout the community as "Gator Bait" was given the axe.School officials cited "racial undertones" as the reason for removing the chant, linking back to late 19th and early 20th century depictions of using African-American children as bait for alligators.The chant, at least in the context of the Florida football team, has much more innocent origins, being popularized in the 1990s by defensive back Lawrence Wright.THESE ONCE-ANNUAL COLLEGE RIVALRIES USED TO DEFINE COLLEGE FOOTBALL AND NEED TO MAKE A COMEBACK ASAPFormer Florida Gators head coach Steve Spurrier.(USA TODAY Sports)No one is more familiar with "Gator Bait" than James Di Virgilio, the popular podcast host of the "Gator Nation Football Podcast."Di Virgilio and his co-host, Allen Williams, started the podcast back in 2014 as a break from the monotony and blind homerism that is abundant in the local sports talk radio shows around Gainesville, where the two reside.Both are Florida graduates...