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Once a Gator, then a 'Cane, always a fan

Phil Kaplan played for Florida and Miami in the 1940s. He fondly remembers both.

By BRUCE LOWITT, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 7, 2002

Phil Kaplan roots for Miami. He played for the Hurricanes. Not that he has anything against Florida, mind you. He played for the Gators, too.

Kaplan, 81, was a starting guard/linebacker for both teams in the 1940s. He was a Miami teammate of Arnold Tucker, later an All-American in the Army backfield with Doc Blanchard and Glenn Davis.

"I made some good plays," said Kaplan, 5 feet 10 and 190 pounds in his playing days. "Heroic plays come from halfbacks who run for touchdowns, defensive backs who make three interceptions in a game. I never did anything heroic."

Phil and Nicky Kaplan, Miami alumni, have been married 50 years. He was an interior contractor; she's still a substitute teacher. Their children are 'Canes and Gators. Robert and Dale graduated from UF; he's a lawyer, she's a veterinarian. Ellen got her nursing degree from UM. Phil and Nicky have grandchildren who attended one or the other as well.

Kaplan will be at the Swamp tonight. He has cheered for both teams, but in reality he's a 'Cane to the bone.

Easily understood. "I moved to Miami in '43, spent two years in the Pacific during the war, and went back in '46. I've been there since," he said.

Nobody took much notice of his shift in collegiate allegiance, not like quarterback Brock Berlin's transfer from Florida to Miami early this year (Berlin is sitting out this season).

At least one other player lettered at both schools. Glenn Barrington is listed as lettering at Florida in 1942 and at Miami in 1944.

Kaplan played at Thomas Jefferson High in Brooklyn. He was contemplating college when a former member of the team, playing at South Carolina, persuaded Kaplan to try out for the Gamecocks in 1940.

He thought he was pretty impressive in practice. Coach Rex Enright disagreed and sent him to Gordon Military College in Georgia. "I told him, 'I can't stay here," Kaplan said. "My mother will kill me.' "

He spent two years at Middle Georgia College, then returned to Brooklyn. A former high school teammate had gotten a scholarship to Florida. "He said, 'Why don't you come with me?' " Kaplan said. "So we put our thumbs out and got to Gainesville."

The teammate didn't make the team. Kaplan did. He spent a year as a Gator. By then World War II was raging. The day before the game in Miami, Kaplan enlisted.

He spent 1943 in the Navy's new V-12 accelerated officer training program at Miami, played under coach Eddie Dunn, then was transferred to Columbia University for final training as an ensign. "I failed the eye test. They caught me, found out I was color blind." The next day Kaplan was a seaman and was assigned to a minesweeper in the Aleutian Islands.

He still wanted to play for the Gators, but when he returned in 1946 new UF coach Raymond Wolf wasn't interested. Kaplan called Dunn, who invited him back. It was a pretty good year. Miami went 8-2 with a 20-13 win over Florida. And he met Nicky. They married several years later.

Kaplan was in the stands for the Florida Flop in 1970 and the hail of debris from Florida fans in 1980, and he was on Bourbon Street before the 2001 Sugar Bowl when Gators and 'Canes scuffled a bit.

"He's seen it all," Nicky Kaplan said.

-- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.

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