Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Fred Taylor took the first steps on this long journey in 1994 when he arrived as a University of Florida freshman from the South Florida farming town of Belle Glade, nicknamed Muck City for its muddy soil and renowned sugar cane crops.

He will take the final strides on Saturday night in a UF commencement ceremony at the O'Dome, 26 years after he left school in the spring of 1998 to embark on a 13-year NFL career. He departed 19 credit hours shy of a Sociology degree.

"I wouldn't miss that for the world,'' Taylor said this week.

Taylor won't be alone as he strolls across the stage.

In January, he secretly enrolled in the final online course he needed to graduate without sharing the news with anyone, including his wife Andrea, for several weeks.

He wanted to be certain he was ready to finish what he started as a teenager and one of the top football prospects in the country.

"I didn't tell a soul," he said. "I ended up telling [Andrea] about three or four weeks in because I wanted to know that I was all-in. I didn't want to start and back out. After I got rolling and I got past the drop-add period, it was go-time. I buckled down and got it done."

Taylor can get emotional when asked what prompted his decision all these years later. That's because he did share his plans with someone special a few months prior.

In October, as 82-year-old Rosetta Lusane neared the end of her life, Taylor visited his grandmother – Taylor's primary caretaker while growing up – and whispered to her that he was going to finish college and earn his degree. When he left school to enter the 1998 NFL Draft, Taylor had promised her that one day he would return to school and graduate.

With Lusane in bed with dementia and various health issues, Taylor leaned into her and shared the message. She died Oct. 31.

"She did smile after I said it,'' Taylor said. "Sometimes she would smile when she would get those glimpses of remembrance. Every now and then she would recognize the voice, the kiss, the smell. 'I'm not going to break that promise. I'm going to go and graduate.' I'm about to tear up right now."

Following his college career at Florida, Taylor went on to become the all-time leading rusher in Jacksonville Jaguars history and ranks 17th on the NFL's all-time career rushing list with 11,695 yards. Taylor recorded seven 1,000-yards seasons and his 4.6-yards-per carry ranks behind only Barry Sanders and Jim Brown among players with more career rushing yards. Taylor is a member of the UF Athletic Hall of Fame and was a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2023.

Taylor now hosts "The Pivot" podcast that takes him around the country to interview famous athletes and business leaders. He won a national championship in 1996 with the Gators, earned All-Pro honors in the NFL, and earned millions of dollars.
 

Still, fulfilling his promise to Lusane and setting an example for his family – his youngest son Austin is set to enroll at UF this summer and former Gators running back Kelvin Taylor texted his father this week that he has enrolled at UF to finish his degree – is among his most significant accomplishment in his eyes.

"Right after I retired, I just couldn't get back to Gainesville, and I had family and all that while I was playing. And I wasn't a thousand percent sure that I wanted to finish, but always in the back of my mind, I knew I had promised my grandmother that I would get it done,'' he said. "I would put [this accomplishment] up there simply because it's just a great example for my family. I ended up leaving school and not really having a full understanding going into that sum of money and not really understanding financial literacy, or having a business acumen.

"We didn't know people would prey on us. Once I got taken advantage of a few times, I told myself after the second time, never again. You've got to go study and learn this for yourself and more so for your family. The reason I wanted to go and get my degree, it shows that you can finish. That's what I've always wanted to give back to my family."

Taylor chipped away at the task over the past decade, taking courses online when they became available in 2012, '14 and '19. When he discovered the final class he needed was now offered online after not being available, he put his plan into action.

That meant studying on planes as he flew around the country for his podcast, watching lectures and taking notes in airports and hotel lobbies, and managing his time wisely.

"It was a good journey,'' he said.

One inspired by the woman those in Belle Glade simply referred to as "Sister." On the announcement for Lusane's memorial page, a poem titled "Remember" is included. It was published in 1862 by Christina Georgina Rossetti and opens this way:

Remember me when I am gone away,
Gone far away into the silent land

Taylor can't forget her. Her impact on his life is too great, yesteryear and today.

"I know she'll be there,'' he said.