Gainesville, FL- It was the spring before the 1965 season in Gainesville when Florida football assistant coach Dwayne Douglas approached a University of Florida scientist by the name of Doctor Robert Cade. Douglas asked Cade, who specialized in the study of kidney disease, why members of the football team were experiencing so much weight loss throughout the practices under the blistering Florida sun while at the same time urinating less. Dr Cade came to the conclusion that during practices and the heat of the game, players were draining their body fluids, an explanation for why they were barley urinating after the competing. Answering coach Douglas' question was simple enough for Cade, but it was finding a solution that did not come easy. Dr Cade created a research team made up of fellow UF researchers Dana Shires, Jim Free, and A.M. deQuesada to find a defense against the issue Florida football players were facing. What these team of researchers discovered was the sweating was draining these players of their fluids causing them to be too exhausted by the end of the games. What Cade and company needed next were "guinea pigs" so to speak. In September of 1965, just as the season was kicking off, Dr Cade approached Florida head coach Ray Graves about his research, and asked coach Graves if he could test out his hypothesis on some of his players. Due to rules during that time period, freshman played on what was called the "JV" squad since they could not compete in actual games with the upper classmen. Due to this rule Coach Graves allowed Dr Cade and his team to use 10 freshman players in his study. During scrimmages, Dr Cade began giving the freshmen players water with salt and sugar added to it to replace the salt they were losing while sweating during competition. When Dr Cade gave the salt and sugar water to the players following a practice it was not at all well received. Offensive guard Larry Gagner remarked "this stuff tastes like piss" before dumping the rest out on his face to cool off. The purpose of the drink was not to have a good taste but to hydrate the players. However, it was Dr Cade's wife who suggested adding lemon juice to give it a somewhat better flavor. The first official on the field test occurred during the 1965 season when Florida's B team scrimmaged the Freshmen team. At halftime of the scrimmage, the B team led the Freshmen 13-0, which was about as expected. "They pushed the freshmen around pretty good" Dr Cade would later recall. Before the second half began the freshmen team drank the lemon flavored salt water. The freshmen team played more energized and was not exhausted by the end of the 4th period. The freshmen ended up scoring over 5 touchdowns to handedly beat the B team. Coach Graves was so impressed by the scrimmage that he requested Dr Cade to make up enough of the formula for the Varsity team to use the following week versus 5th ranked LSU. In a game where the temperature reached over 100 degrees, the Gators came from behind to pull off the upset over the Tigers, 14-7. Although this new "secret formula" that fueled the mighty Gators was a success, it wasn't until Florida's match up against heavily favored 8th ranked Georgia Tech in the 1967 Orange Bowl that the Gatorade legend, as we know it, was born. That 1966 season was at the time among the most successful in school history. Florida finished the regular season at 8-2, garnering the identity of a "come from behind" team in most of their games, Senior quarterback Steve Spurrier had won the Heisman trophy, college football's highest achievement for an individual player, and the Gators were one win away from their first ever SEC crown had it not been for a loss to Georgia. Despite Georgia Tech being the favorites, it was the Gators who used a second half surge to beat the Yellow Jackets in convincing fashion, 27-12. Following the game Georgia Tech's legendary head coach Bobby Dodd remarked, "We didn't have Gatorade. That made the difference." Now how much of Florida's success in that game can be attributed to Gatorade, who knows? Florida's Heisman winning quarterback Steve Spurrier said after the victory, "I don't have any answer for whether Gatorade helped us be a better second half team or not." Regardless if Gatorade was truly the formula for Florida's success during the 1966 season, that Orange Bowl victory for the Gators allowed Dr Cade's invention to become more popular outside of the Florida football program. Following the Orange Bowl, Dr Cade and his team of researchers reached an agreement with Stokely-Van Camp, Inc. food packaging company, who commercially sold the product nation wide. In 1973 another agreement was reached allowing the University of Florida 20 percent of Gatorade royalties. Although the drink is now universally known and used among athletes, most everyone who drinks it knows where the legend began...The Swamp.
0 Comments
|
|