The road to the Heisman is going through Gainesville once more.
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today, the coveted award given to the top college football player in the country, will be on display on the front lawn of The Swamp Restaurant, located at 1642 W University Ave.
The display is part of Nissan’s 2009 Southeast Heisman Trophy Tour, which has the trophy traveling to different cities across the South, mostly those with Southeastern Conference schools.
“It’s exactly where it needs to be the day before Game Day,” said Kathleen Williams, the restaurant’s office manager. “There’s so much life and spirit with our fans. We want to make this experience special. ”
The trophy is scheduled to be in Gainesville until Saturday when it will then travel to Jacksonville for the Jaguars-Bills game. The tour will conclude with a weeklong trip to Atlanta, the site of the SEC title game.
Fans will be allowed to look at, touch and take pictures with the trophy. Those in attendance will also be allowed to enter their names into a drawing for a trip to the Heisman ceremony in New York City this December.
Michael Taphorn, the restaurant’s general manager, had been trying for the past few months to get the trophy. When he found out on Wednesday that it would be on display at his restaurant, he was ecstatic.
“Sure you can go down to the stadium and see it, but how many times do you get a chance to actually touch it?” he said.
According to Taphorn, an average Friday evening at Swamp sees about 500 customers come and go. He hopes the display will bring in double that amount.
In honor of the occasion, the restaurant will be offering a special “Heisman drink,” which will consist of Jack Daniel’s, cranberry juice and Triple Sec.
For Justin Morris, a criminology junior and a die-hard Gators football fan, seeing the trophy is more than enough to make the stroll down University Avenue.
“Oh yeah, I’m definitely excited,” he said. “Hopefully Tim will win a second one and solidify himself as the greatest college football player of all time.”
