Florida Gators revive iconic ‘Gator Bait’ chant the left deemed racist back in 2020, and fans ate it up
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The Florida Gators opened the first college football weekend of the season with a new coach, a new quarterback, and an offense that put up more points than it had in years.
The most noticeable change, however, took place in the stands.
The school revived the iconic, yet controversial, “Gator Bait” chant that had been shelved since America lost its mind during the summer of 2020. Like a lot of things, “Gator Bait” was deemed racist as the (very peaceful) social justice movement swept through the streets, and the school promptly shut it down.
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Now, six years later, it’s back …
And fans were THRILLED:
‘Gator Bait’ was never racist
Goodness, does that bring me back. I grew up going to Gators games during the Tebow era — the last good era, by the way — and that chant was electric. The band. The fans. The energy. It was the best.
Of course, it was banned six years ago because folks suddenly decided it was racist.
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Why? Well, the internet cooked up the idea that the chant originated from late-1800s and early-1900s imagery and stories that depicted Black children being used as bait to catch alligators.
Yes, obviously that’s just disgusting literature. Nobody is arguing that. Nobody did.
A Florida Gators cheerleader and fans cheer “gator bait” during the second quarter against the Bowling Green Falcons at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla., on Sept. 1, 2012. (IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
Jon Sumrall of the Florida Gators watches a replay during the game between the Florida Gators and the Florida Atlantic Owls on Sept. 5, 2026, at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Fla. (Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
But here’s the thing … then-UF President Kent Fuchs acknowledged at the time that the chant, which had been around for decades, had NOTHING to do with any of that.
“While I know of no evidence of racism associated with our ‘Gator Bait’ cheer at UF sporting events, there is horrific historic racist imagery associated with the phrase,” he wrote in a letter in June 2020.
Translation: This isn’t racist, but we’re bending the knee to the mob because that’s what everyone is doing right now.
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Fast-forward six years, and new Florida president Dr. Stuart Bell brought up the idea of reviving the iconic chant earlier this summer.
A Florida Gators fan holds up a sign reading “Gator Bait” during the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament semifinal against the LSU Tigers on March 11, 2006, at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tenn. (Getty Images)
“I know there’s a lot around the ‘Gator Bait’ (chant). It’s meaningful to the Gator family,” Bell told 1010XL. “I hope we’re able to have some really great conversations around that.”
The chant, for those wondering, was coined the “Gator Bait” chant by Lawrence Wright way back in 1995. It was foolishly canceled in 2020, and smartly revived on Saturday.
Sanity wins again.
