The award takes its name from Forest K. Ferguson, known as "Fergie" to his teammates, who was one of the University of Florida's greatest all-around athletes.
[2] He was also the State of Florida collegiate boxing champion, and won the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) national championship in the javelin throw in 1942.
[1] As a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Ferguson led an infantry platoon during the D-Day landings in Nazi-occupied France on June 6, 1944.
His platoon was pinned down by a machine gun being fired from a nest on a high bluff, so Ferguson climbed the cliff and eliminated the danger but was severely wounded in the process.
[5] The recipients to date are listed below: 1954 – Malcolm Hammack (FB) 1955 – Steve DeLaTorre (C/LB) 1956 – Larry Wesley (T) 1957 – Jim Rountree (HB) 1958 – Jimmy Dunn (QB) 1959 – Asa Cox (G) 1960 – Pat Patchen (E), Vic Miranda (T) 1961 – Jim Beaver (T) 1962 – Sam Holland (E) 1963 – Jimmy Morgan (LB), Hagood Clarke (HB) 1964 – Larry Dupree (FB) 1965 – Charles Casey (E) 1966 – Steve Spurrier (QB) 1967 – Richard Trapp (E) 1968 – Guy Dennis (G), Larry Smith (RB) 1969 – Steve Tannen (DB) 1970 – Jack Youngblood (DE) 1971 – John Reaves (QB) 1972 – Fred Abbott (LB) 1973 – David Hitchcock (NG) 1974 – Lee McGriff (SE) 1975 – Jimmy DuBose (FB) 1976 – Jimmy Fisher (QB) 1977 – Wes Chandler (SE) 1978 – Mike Dupree (DE) 1979 – Chuck Hatch (DB) 1980 – David Little (LB) 1981 – Brian Clark (PK) 1982 – James Jones (FB) 1983 – Dwayne Dixon (WR) 1984 – Gary Rolle (WR) 1985 – Neal Anderson (RB) 1986 – Ricky Nattiel (WR) 1987 – Kerwin Bell (QB) 1988 – Louis Oliver (DB) 1989 – John Durden (OT) 1990 – Kirk Kirkpatrick (TE) 1991 – Cal Dixon (C) 1992 – Lex Smith (DE) 1993 – William Gaines (DT) 1994 – Michael Gilmore (DB) 1995 – Ben Hanks (LB) 1996 – James Bates (LB) 1997 – Dwayne Thomas (LB) 1998 – Willie Cohens (DE) 1999 – Cheston Blackshear (OG) 2000 – Jesse Palmer (QB) 2001 – Rob Roberts (FB) 2002 – Byron Hardmon (LB) 2003 – Daryl Dixon (FS) 2004 – Ciatrick Fason (RB) 2005 – Jarvis Herring (S) 2006 – Jemalle Cornelius (WR) 2007 – Andre Caldwell (WR) 2008 – Louis Murphy (WR) 2009 – Ryan Stamper (LB) 2010 – Justin Trattou (DE) 2011 – John Brantley (QB), Lerentee McCray (LB) 2012 – Sharrif Floyd (DL), Jon Bostic (LB), Frankie Hammond (WR), Josh Evans (DB) 2013 – Jeremy Brown (DB), Kyle Koehne (OL), Darrin Kitchens (LB) 2014 – Max Garcia (OL) 2015 – Jon Bullard (DL) 2016 – Jarrad Davis (LB) 2017 – Duke Dawson (DB) 2022 – Ventrell Miller (LB) 2023 – Ricky Pearsall (WR)