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Editor’s note: Gators Wire recently interviewed former Florida and NFL great Trace Armstrong to discuss a variety of topics, ranging from his youth to the modern game of football.
Be sure to check back each Wednesday for future installments of “Talking with Trace.” The series is part of a partnership between our colleagues at Campus Lore and the NFLPA.
Previously, we have discussed who was the greatest Gator ever and why the Miami Dolphins was such a great place for Trace, as well as his take on the NCAA and modern college football, his prediction for the Gators in 2021, how he still dreams about third down in the NFL, what it takes to make a professional athlete, the difference between the college ranks and the pros and a look back at former Gators head coach Galen Hall.
This week, Trace talks about the 1988 Florida football squad, which included names such as Huey Richardson, Ernie Mills, David Williams, Louis Oliver, and of course, Pro Football Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith.
Here is what he had to say about his teammates during his lone season with the Gators.
ADAM DUBBIN: “You played with Huey Richardson, like I mentioned earlier, Ernie Mills. Emmitt Smith was on that team … what was it like playing with these guys? Future NFL players, a future Hall of Famer — what was it like at the time being on the field with them?”
TRACE ARMSTRONG: “It was great. I mean, you could tell — especially no, I have a pretty good reference point because I had been on a good team at Arizona State with good players. And then you come and you see, you recognize some of these guys right away: ‘OK, this guy has a chance to be special.'”
“Emmitt was probably above and beyond everybody on the team at that time. He had a couple of injuries that year — when Emmitt played we were a good-to-very-good team. When he didn’t play, we might have been a good team. So he was a huge difference-maker. And I never played with a player that good that could have that big of an impact on a team before. So that was kinda fun.”
“And then, we had guys like Louis Oliver, who had a ton of accolades, David Williams a ton of accolades, and you could see it. David Williams, if he lost a one-on-one pass-rush against anybody, I really don’t remember it. He was that good. Louis was kind of this freak of nature, 6-foot-2, 6-foot-3, 225-pound guy, which was huge at that time, that could just rock. So it was fun, and there’d be times in practice where you’d go, ‘Oh wow, look at that.'”
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