Vel Heckman
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| Florida Gators No. 72 | |
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| Position | Tackle |
| Class | Graduate |
| Career history | |
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| Personal information | |
| Date of birth | July 27, 1936 |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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Velles Alvin Heckman (born July 27, 1936) is a former American college football player. He played at the tackle position for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida, and was selected as a first-team All-American in 1958.
Heckman was raised in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He enrolled at the University of Florida in 1954, but dropped out of the university in 1955. He returned in 1956 and played at the tackle position for head coach Bob Woodruff's Florida Gators football teams from 1956 to 1958. After the 1956 season, he was ranked as one of the best sophomores in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). He became a star as a senior in 1958. Bill Kastelz, the sports editor of the Jacksonville Times-Union, wrote that Heckman's play reached All-American levels against No. 3-ranked LSU on October 25, 1958. The following week, an injury to one of Florida's tackles led coach Woodruff to use an unorthodox strategy of shifting Heckman between the right and left tackle positions during the Auburn-Florida rivalry game. After the game, Woodruff said, "Heckman probably will be selected All America for his play." Bill Kastelz wrote: "Big, fast and tough, he outshone all of Auburn's great linemen." Auburn coach Shug Jordan said of the strategy: "There should be a law to prevent things like that. We were supposed to run plays where Heckman wasn't, and he's there now."
After the 1958 season, Heckman was selected as a first-team All-American tackle by the Football Writers Association of America, Notre Dame Scholastic, and Football Digest. He also received first-team All-SEC honors from the Associated Press and United Press International, as well as the Daytona Beach Quarterback Club's award as the outstanding senior college football player in the State of Florida. In May 1959, Heckman and golfer Tommy Aaron were the first recipients of the "Gold Gator" award presented to a University of Florida student with "nationally recognized athletic prowess."
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