GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) -Phil Trautwein has a souvenir from Florida’s national championship two years ago that no one can match.
The game ball used on the final snap.
He keeps it on a bookshelf in his apartment, dusting it off every now and then, showing it to teammates, classmates, family and friends, and sharing the story of how he managed to sneak it out of the Arizona desert. It proves the 6-foot-6, 310-pound left tackle has fast hands and quick feet.
Trautwein’s skills will be tested even more Saturday when No. 2 Florida plays rival and 23rd-ranked Florida State. Trautwein has the task of blocking speedy defensive end Everette Brown, who leads the nation in tackles for loss (20.5) and ranks second with 12.5 sacks.
e a big game for us.”
No one would have considered that possible four years ago, especially not coach Urban Meyer. But Trautwein has developed into one of Florida’s most consistent linemen, outworking teammates and outsmarting opponents.
He outhustled everyone after the game’s final play in January 2007.
Gators quarterback Chris Leak took a knee and started jumping up and down to celebrate the 41-14 victory against Ohio State. Then he threw the ball into the air and as confetti fell and people running toward midfield, Trautwein followed the ball. He worked his way through traffic, picked up the ball and started thinking of a way to keep it.
“I thought somebody was going to see me do it and try to take it from me,” Trautwein said.
Trautwein was determined not to let it go. He took off his helmet, buried the ball inside and then grabbed a towel from the sideline and covered it up. He took it to the locker room, stuck it in his bag and kept it with him all the way back to Gainesville.
It’s been on display ever since.
“Everybody thinks it’s pretty cool,” said Trautwein, closing in on his master’s degree in educational leadership. “They say it’s pretty crazy that I got it.”
ampus in 2004. He wasn’t much bigger when he first met Meyer.
Meyer remembers the encounter well – for some not-so-flattering reasons.
“It was the day I was hired,” Meyer recalled. “The state (high school football) championships were going on in The Swamp. I was walking up the stairs. This young, pasty-looking guy comes walking up and says, ‘Hi coach.’ I said, ‘Hey, how are you? So where do you go to school?’ I thought he was a recruit or something, a bad-looking recruit.
“He said, ‘Coach, I play for Florida.’ Is that right? I shook his hand and kept walking and then looked over and said, ‘What the hell was that? I left Utah to come to this?”’
Trautwein has changed Meyer’s opinion.
He started every game in 2006, protecting Leak’s blind side and helping the Gators win their first Southeastern Conference title since 2000 and their second national championship. He was expected to handle the same role for Tim Tebow last year, but Trautwein sustained a stress fracture in his right foot and missed the entire season.
It wasn’t easy standing on the sideline and watching Florida lose four games, but it turned out to be beneficial because it gave Trautwein, who hopes to play in the NFL, another year to get bigger and stronger and work on his technique.
n me, but I use what I have to my advantage and work hard. I was told my whole life I never was going to start in high school. I was told I was never going to start in college.
“I used that as motivation and I play with a lot of heart. That’s what makes a good player great and what makes an average player good – motivation, a willingness to go as hard as they can on every play and work ethic. That’s what makes people great.”
Trautwein found even more motivation earlier this season. He was the one who missed a block on an extra point against Mississippi, a crucial play that allowed the Rebels to upset Florida 31-30 in late September.
“It fueled me,” he said. “I don’t really talk about it, but I think about it all the time. I just have to learn from it, knowing I need to get better and I’ve been working hard. I feel like that pretty much helped me. I feel like I’ve been playing the best ball of my life.”
The Gators have won seven in a row since, with much of the credit going to the improved play of the offensive line. With wins against the Seminoles – Trautwein knows he has the key matchup against Brown – and top-ranked Alabama in the SEC title game, Florida will play for another national title.
And Trautwein will get a chance to take home another souvenir.
“I’d love to have another one,” he said. “I’ll probably try to take one.”
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