- Jun 12, 2014
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We Chatterers all hail from different parts of Florida if not the US. We come from little towns and big cities. Most of us have been involved in sports one way or another. Seen a lot and competed a lot. In the process, we’ve likely all seen some pretty remarkable athletes. Everybody knows the famous ones, but I got to wondering...who are some of the best you’ve seen that few have heard about? I’ll start...
Some of you old timers may remember a lineman that came to UF from the little Panhandle town of Chattahoochee in 1976 by the name of David Mabardy. Although his time at UF was pretty nondescript, he was one hell of an athlete for the Chattahoochee High Yellow Jackets. Mabardy stood about 6’2”” and weighed in around 230. Best way I can describe him was that he was built like Arnold Shwartzenegger and could run like Houston McTear (you gotta be old to recognize that name!).
He was a four sport athlete and was pretty good at all. In track he would win the shot and the 100. Baseball, he could hit it a ton. He was a great rebounder in basketball, could box anybody out and you couldn’t do the same to him. It used to be hilarious to watch him at the opening tip off. He’d usually get close to his opponent and flex. He and the team got a lot of mileage out of the resulting intimidation. But football was where he excelled.
He was a fullback / linebacker and was always the best player on the field. Couldn’t tackle him nor block him. Hard to believe how fast he was for a guy his size at that time. I remember seeing him race one summer against our best athlete (I was at a neighboring high school) and he absolutely smoked him and our guy was about 50 lbs lighter and pretty speedy. We were off when Chattahoochee played Greensboro, who won the Class A championship that year. Greensboro won, but Mabardy made a legendary play when he met the Bulldogs’ stud MLB head on, knocking him back about 10 ft and breaking his helmet in the process! The kid refused to go back in the game after that.
Unfortunately, Mabardy put on about 70 lbs in Gainesville and never adjusted to the change of position or the new body mass. He went on to work as a corrections officer, had a family, and was an ordinary Joe. He passed away a few years back. Like I say, not many probably knew about him, but he was one of the best high school athletes I ever saw.
Some of you old timers may remember a lineman that came to UF from the little Panhandle town of Chattahoochee in 1976 by the name of David Mabardy. Although his time at UF was pretty nondescript, he was one hell of an athlete for the Chattahoochee High Yellow Jackets. Mabardy stood about 6’2”” and weighed in around 230. Best way I can describe him was that he was built like Arnold Shwartzenegger and could run like Houston McTear (you gotta be old to recognize that name!).
He was a four sport athlete and was pretty good at all. In track he would win the shot and the 100. Baseball, he could hit it a ton. He was a great rebounder in basketball, could box anybody out and you couldn’t do the same to him. It used to be hilarious to watch him at the opening tip off. He’d usually get close to his opponent and flex. He and the team got a lot of mileage out of the resulting intimidation. But football was where he excelled.
He was a fullback / linebacker and was always the best player on the field. Couldn’t tackle him nor block him. Hard to believe how fast he was for a guy his size at that time. I remember seeing him race one summer against our best athlete (I was at a neighboring high school) and he absolutely smoked him and our guy was about 50 lbs lighter and pretty speedy. We were off when Chattahoochee played Greensboro, who won the Class A championship that year. Greensboro won, but Mabardy made a legendary play when he met the Bulldogs’ stud MLB head on, knocking him back about 10 ft and breaking his helmet in the process! The kid refused to go back in the game after that.
Unfortunately, Mabardy put on about 70 lbs in Gainesville and never adjusted to the change of position or the new body mass. He went on to work as a corrections officer, had a family, and was an ordinary Joe. He passed away a few years back. Like I say, not many probably knew about him, but he was one of the best high school athletes I ever saw.