For the third consecutive year, the University of Florida’s football team, the Gators, will celebrate the late Tom Petty with his own day. The 2024 edition of Tom Petty Day will take place this Saturday, October 5, during the Gators’ home game in Gainesville, Florida, against the University of Central Florida.
The Gators’ home games are played at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, which is nicknamed “The Swamp.” To honor Petty, a Gainesville native and longtime Gators fan, his music and videos will be played at the stadium before the game and during breaks in the action.
Videos by American Songwriter
In addition, limited-edition Petty-themed Gators merchandise will be sold at the stadium, at the U. of Florida on-campus bookstore, and online at FloridaGators.com and TomPetty.com. Items in the Tom Petty x Florida Collection include T-shirts, hats, jerseys, and helmets.
Proceeds from sales of the Petty-themed merch will benefit two local charities—Kids Count in Alachua County and Family Promise. Kids Count is a free after-school program that seeks to empower early grade-school students by provides academic support, social-emotional learning, mental health services, and more. Family Promise provides housing and job resources to in-need children and families in the Gainesville area.
Petty’s Association with the U. of Florida
When he was young, Petty worked as a groundskeeper at the University of Florida. He also played at various Gainesville-area venues before he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a professional career in music.
After Petty’s death in October 2017, the Gators began playing his solo hit “I Won’t Back Down” between the third and fourth quarters of their home football games in tribute to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The homage has become a regular part of all of the team’s home contests.
The first Tom Petty Day was held at The Swamp in 2022.
Meanwhile, in 2023, the university presented a posthumous honorary doctorate degree in music to Petty. That same year, Petty’s family donated $100,000 to the university’s School of Music to launch the Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars and Innovation. The endowment provides funds to students and faculty involved in various music-related studies at the school.
Petty’s Comments About His Love of Gators
In announcing the 2024 Tom Petty Day event, Petty’s social media pages shared an archival interview clip featuring Tom talking about his fondness for collecting gator-themed items.
“[I have] a gator everything,” he said in the video. “I’ve got gator shoelaces, gator ashtrays, magnets, stuffed, plastic, big ones, little ones, gator hats. … I’ve got gator undershirts with hundreds of gators, gator sweatshirts. … It’s funny, ’cause where we grew up in Florida, I mean, ‘gator’ is the word. There’s the Gator laundry, Gator bowling alley, Gator submarine sandwich, Gator realty. Everything’s gators. And there are gators all over the place.”