With the death of Jake Godbold, Jacksonville's former mayor, Wayne Weaver is reflecting on the impact he had on the River City.
The former Jacksonville Jaguars owner credits Godbold for sparking the momentum to bring an NFL team to the city. He says Godbold pushed hard to turn the NFL's attention to Jacksonville and its spirited fan base.
But how did this come to be? Turns out, an event at the Gator Bowl was key, he said.
In 1979, Godbold tried to convince the then-Baltimore Colts of making Jacksonville its new hometown. In an attempt to convince them, he asked the public to show up to the Gator Bowl so that the NFL saw the appetite Jacksonville had to support a team, he said.
"They put on a dog and pony show and flew [Baltimore Colts owner Robert Irsay) to land him in the center of the stadium," Weaver said. "So clearly he had a big influence in keeping the flame alive."
More than 50,000 people packed the old Gator Bowl as Irsay landed in a helicopter on the 50-yard line.
Unfortunately, the Colts didn't choose Jacksonville and chose Indianapolis instead. Even so, this marked the moment Godbold made an impact on the NFL, he explained.
"It built a relationship with the NFL," he said. "It created a history of what strong fans we had in there for football."
Weaver said Godbold "constantly" reached out to the NFL and talked up Jacksonville for the next decade. He wanted to show the league Jacksonville's spirited fan base.
"I don't think we would have ever gotten a team here if we didn't have that history for so many years ... Those things made a huge impression on the NFL," he said.
On Nov. 30, 1993, Jacksonville was awarded the 30th franchise in the NFL: The Jacksonville Jaguars.