My favorite Kerwin Bell post of all time, a memory of his great comeback against Auburn:
I may be getting older, but I'll never, ever forget that Auburn game. It was, without a doubt, the greatest moment in Gator , if not American, history.
The Gator offense was inept that day. Auburn jumped out to a huge, insurmountable lead. The O&B faithful despaired. Then, a desperate Galen Hall picked up his emergency red telephone and called the ER at Shands. He gritted his teeth and simply said "Bring me Bell." To the horror of his physicians, Kerwin demanded that an ambulance immediately transport him to the stadium.
Kerwin didn't start because he was on crutches that day. You see, he had broken his leg in an earlier game giving his all for the Gators. He was in a full cast from hip all the way down to his foot. Gangrene had set in and the leg was due to be amputated later that day. It didn't matter to Kerwin. The Gators needed him, and he wasn't going to let them down.
Galen called a timeout so the hospital helicopter could land at midfield and drop Kerwin off. Florida had the ball on their own 1 foot line, with .0001 seconds left on the clock. Kerwin's positioned his wheel chair under center and called the last play of the game. He took the snap with his teeth and used both hands roll the wheelchair back. Auburn blitzed their entire defense. Bell juked two defenders, rolled over a third, then, just before being sacked for a safety, he launched a prayer of a hail mary downfield.
Alas, his WR had fallen down the ball was fluttering down, destined to fall incomplete. But, from nowhere, Bell's powerful arms drove his wheelchair toward the spot where the ball was falling. At the last second, he made a fingertip catch to keep the play alive, but the entire Auburn offense, defense, the 1972 Dolphins, and the entire Stanford band was between him and the endzone. On that day, however, Bell would not be denied. He spun the wheelchair around, juking Auburn players while kicking up a rooster tail of dirt and grass in his wake. He drove his wheelchair over and around defenders until he got to the 5 yard line. At that moment, he was stopped by Dolphins middle linebacker Nick Buoniconti and a trombone player.
Knowing there was no way to get around these last two defenders, Kerwin clutched the ball with his left hand and used his pocketknife to saw off his own broken leg. He used the leg (still encased in the cast) to hit Nick upside his head. He swung his leg back the other way and drove the trombone all the way through the poor band geek's skull until 3 feet of the instrument was sticking out of the back of his head.
With the way ahead finally cleared, Kerwin hopped up on his one good leg and completed the last five yards into the endzone. The referees consulted and decided to award the Gators 27 1/2 points for the play, giving the Gators a 1/2 point win.
Yup--so help me, that's EXACTLY the way it happened or my name isn't William Jefferson Clinton.
Alex.
