Former Gators linebacker [autotag]Mike Peterson[/autotag] and defensive back [autotag]Fred Weary[/autotag] are being inducted into the Georgia-Florida Hall of Fame on Nov. 1, according to the City of Jacksonville Office of Sports and Entertainment.
Peterson is currently on Florida’s coaching staff as an assistant who works with the edge linebackers. He played for Florida from 1995-98 and won a national championship in 1996. Peterson was also named to the All-SEC and All-America teams that season. The University of Florida inducted him into its Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
The Indianapolis Colts selected Peterson 36th overall in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft. He’d go on to record 883 tackles, 21.5 sacks and 19 interceptions over 196 career games, playing for Indianapolis, Jacksonville and Atlanta, in that order.
After retiring from professional play, Peterson returned to Florida in 2013 to get his degree and serve as an undergraduate assistant coach. He worked with the strength and conditioning staff until he was promoted to a full-time position as strength and condition coordinator after graduating.
He moved on to become the outside linebackers/defensive ends coach at South Carolina under Will Muschamp in 2016. Peterson stayed with the Gamecocks until returning to Florida in 2022 under Billy Napier.
Fred Weary as a Florida Gator
Weary was also a member of the 1996 national championship team in Gainesville, playing for Florida from 1994 to 1997. He holds the program record for career interceptions with 15, including six in his final season which led to first-team All-SEC and All-America selections.
Selected 97th overall in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL draft, Weary played in the pros for six seasons, mostly with the New Orleans Saints. Weary also played with Atlanta, St. Louis and Baltimore before retiring.
Georgia players going into the HOF
Since it’s a shared Hall of Fame that recognizes both sides of the Florida-Georgia rivalry, a pair of Bulldogs are also included in the induction ceremony.
WWE Hall of Famer and former Georgia defensive lineman Bill Goldberg joins walk-on defensive back Mike Fisher — a member of the 1980 “Junkyard Dogs” defense — as the former Bulldogs being inducted.
Former Gators in GA-FL HOF
- Kerwin Bell (1996), Ray Graves (1996), Shane Matthews (1996) and Steve Spurrier (1996)
Danny Wuerffel (1997), Jack Youngblood (1997) - Rick Casares (1998), Larry “Dupe” Dupree (1998), “Chuck” Hunsinger (1998), Charles LaPradd (1998) and Richard Trapp (1998)
- Carlos Alvarez (1999), Jimmy Dunn (1999)
- Joe Brodsky (2000), Howell Boney (2000)
- Chris Doering (2001), John Reaves (2001)
- Norm Carlson (2002), Ricky Nattiel (2002)
- Buford Long (2003), Errict Rhett (2003)
- Wes Chandler (2004), Reidel Anthony (2004)
- Jeremy Foley (2005), Don Gaffney (2005)
- Ike Hilliard (2006), Lee McGriff (2006)
- Galen Hall (2007), Doug Johnson (2007)
- Willie Jackson Jr. (2008), Fred Taylor (2008)
- Rex Grossman (2009), Lawrence Wright (2009)
- Scot Brantley (2010), Wilber Marshall (2010)
- Kevin Carter (2011), Nat Moore (2011)
- Doug Dickey (2012), John L. Williams (2012)
- Lindy Infante (2013), Jevon Kearse (2013)
- James Bates (2014), Louis Oliver (2014)
- Jabar Gaffney (2015), Chris Leak (2015)
- Jeff Chandler (2016), Ben Troupe (2016)
- Lito Sheppard (2017), Tim Tebow (2017)
- Alex Brown (2018), Percy Harvin (2018)
- Brandon Spikes (2019), Jarvis Jones (2019)
- Ciatrick Fason (2021), Keiwan Ratliff (2021)
- Trey Burton (2022), Andre Caldwell (2022)
- Joe Haden (2023), Earnest Graham (2023)
Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
