42 – Jevon Kearse, LB (1995-98)
The Freak. It only takes two words to describe this physical marvel, a quarterback-sacking, ball-hawking, man-crushing machine that stands at 6’4″, 265, with an 86-inch wingspan and blazing speed. Jevon started off at safety under Steve Spurrier, then transitioned to linebacker after his redshirt year. He debuted at his new position of linebacker by recording six solo tackles and a sack on the way to his All-SEC Freshmen berth and the Gators’ 1996 National Championship. Sadly, Jevon did not get much chance to enjoy the victory as his brother was killed in a shooting soon after the season ended. Jevon made the All-SEC team in 1997 thanks to his team high 6.5 sacks, 38 tackles and 2 forced fumbles. In his final year in the orange in blue, he once again led the team with 7.5 sacks with 54 tackles. Jevon was named named All-SEC, AP SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Butkus Award, Lombardi Award, and Chuck Bednarik college defensive player of the year awards.
Jevon’s career stats include:
- 34.5 tackles for loss, ranking 11th on UF‘s all-time list.
- 145 total tackles
- 16.5 sacks
- 6 forced fumbles
- 1 interception
- 1 recovered fumble
- 19 pass deflections.
