Fletcher coach, former Gator star Ciatrick Fason 'blessed' to be in Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame

Have a day, Ciatrick Fason. 

The Fletcher graduate, who is a week removed from guiding his alma mater to a district championship in his first season as the Senators football coach, was inducted on Friday into the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame during a luncheon at the TIAA Bank Field East Club, along with former Florida Gator teammate Keiwan Ratliff and Georgia players Thomas Davis and Jon Stinchcomb. 

If that wasn't enough, master of ceremonies Brent Martineau revealed the news that it was Fason's 39th birthday and led the crowd — Gators and Bulldogs alike — in a rendition of "Happy Birthday." 

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"It's a blessing," Fason said in simple acknowledgment of what becoming the 11th area player to be inducted into the game's Hall of Fame meant to him. "Playing in the Florida-Georgia game, in my home town ... it made it that much sweeter and made me want to play that much harder." 

Fason becomes the first Gator player from the First Coast to be inducted into the game’s Hall of Fame since Tim Tebow (Nease) and Lito Sheppard (Raines) entered in 2017. 

Fason played against the Bulldogs three times but he made the most impact in 2004 when he gained 139 yards on 17 carries (8.2 yards per attempt) and caught five passes for 35 yards. 

“Ciatrick was a tough running back to bring down,” Davis said. “As a defense, you look forward to the physicality of a game and you knew you would get that when you played Ciatrick.” 

Fason said it was a bittersweet day. Coach Ron Zook had been fired the week before after a loss at Mississippi State and Georgia beat the Gators 31-24. 

"I tried to give our team their best chance of winning," Fason said. "Playing in my hometown, I wanted to show up. Coach Zook told me he was going to ride me and we almost came up with the upset." 

UF was 4-0 against Georgia when Ratliff played from 2000-2003 and had one of his best games as a senior, intercepting a pass, getting in on five tackles and returning four punts for 22 yards in a 16-13 victory. Ratliff went on to earn SEC defensive player of the year honors. 

The year before, Ratliff had four tackles and returned four punts for 53 yards in a 20-13 victory. 

Fason praised Ratliff for helping him deal with growing pains as a college player when he was a Gator freshman and Ratliff was a junior. 

That's why Ratliff, now the assistant director of player personnel for Florida under coach Dan Mullen, was pleased with the timing of this year's induction. 

"It's great to go in and even more exciting to go in with my little brother," he said of Fason. "I couldn't ask to go in with anybody better than C4." 

Davis played against Florida three times, from 2002-2004, and had five tackles in the Bulldogs' victory when he was a junior.  

Stinchcomb joins his brother Matt in the Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame and was one of the leaders of the UGA offensive line as a four-year starter from 1999-2002. During the span, as the starting right tackle for three years and the starting left tackle as a senior, Stinchcomb helped clear the way for Georgia running backs to average 141 yards rushing per game, and a 4.8 per-carry average. 

Both Davis and Stinchcomb were eager to watch the No. 1-ranked Bulldogs (7-0) and the nation's top defense face the Gators (4-3) on Saturday (3:30 p.m., CBS) 

"They're the best defense I've ever seen," Davis said, without hesitation. "They keep doing it, week-in and week-out." 

Stinchcomb compared this year's defense to the legendary Georgia units of the 1970s and 1980s. 

"You talk about your Junkyard Dawgs from years and decades ago, and this group is right up there with them," he said. "And it's an elite defense with very few marquee names." 

However, Ratliff said rankings and statistics become meaningless at game time. 

"At 3:30, all bets are out the window," he said. "You've got to strap it up, lace it up and go play the game. All the oddsmakers and experts aren't playing when that whistle blows. The 11 men on either side will decide that outcome and who knows what the results will be?" 

Area players in Florida-Georgia Hall of Fame 

Florida 

Ciatrick Fason, Fletcher, 2021 

Tim Tebow, Nease, 2017 

Lito Sheppard, Raines, 2017 

Jeff Chandler, Mandarin, 2016 

Jabar Gaffney, Raines, 2015 

John L. Williams, Palatka, 2012 

Don Gaffney, Raines, 2005 

Charley LaPradd, St. Augustine, 1998 

Larry Dupree, Baker Co., 1998 

Georgia 

Boss Bailey, Camden Co. (Ga.), 2018 

Tommy Thurson, Bishop Kenny, 1998