Mr. Two Bits

George Edmondson, Jr.
"Mr. Two Bits" leading a pre-game cheer
Born	1922 (age 94–95)
Nationality	American
Occupation	Insurance salesman Amateur cheerleader
Spouse(s)	Jane Edmondson

George Edmondson, Jr. (born 1922) is a retired insurance salesman from Tampa, Florida. Known to the University of Florida community as "Mr. Two Bits", is a long-time football fan of—and cheerleader for—the Florida Gators football team. He led a traditional "Two Bits' cheer at Florida football games from 1949 until his "retirement" in 2008.

Since 2008, a series of University of Florida students and famous alumni have taken over the Mr. Two Bits role during pregame festivities at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

After serving as a Navy fighter pilot during World War II, George Edmondson settled in Tampa, Florida and worked in the insurance business. The Two Bits tradition began spontaneously in 1949, when Edmondson was attending the opening game of Florida's football season against The Citadel, a school that he briefly attended before enlisting in the United States Navy during World War II. The Gators had lost five of their last six games the previous year and were not expected to do any better. When the fans booed the players and the coach even before the opening kickoff, Edmondson decided to boost their morale by leading them in a cheer about adding up bits (a "bit" is an eighth of a dollar, so eight of them would indeed total one dollar). The Gators won the game, and fans were so enthusiastic about Edmondson's cheer that he returned the next Saturday to lead it again. Eventually, he began leaving his seat to wander throughout the stands of Florida Field, leading fans in different sections in the cheer. Edmondson continued this pattern for the rest of the 1949 season and after, leading the Two Bits cheer at almost every Gator home game and selected road and bowl games over the next several decades. Beginning In the 1970s, he was invited to lead the entire stadium in the cheer from the field before each home game.

Edmondson was never paid for his services, and even after he was asked to lead his cheer from the field, he insisted on paying for his season tickets like any other fan. In the early 1980s, Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Hugh Culverhouse offered to pay Edmondson "real well" to lead the Two Bits cheer at his hometown Bucs games. Edmondson declined the offer, saying, "What I do for the Gators is from the heart, not from the pocketbook."