http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20130829/SPORTS0404/308290052/Brevard-pride-Wearing-No-20-University-Florida?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Sports

Ernestine McGriff was supposed to celebrate a birthday on April 18, 1998. It was all planned out. Her son, James, had his own celebration a few days before.

But on the eve of her own birthday, Ernestine found out her son was missing in the water off Melbourne Beach. He was just a few weeks away from going to the University of Florida. Huge things were expected of McGriff, one of Brevard County's most recruited football players, and Coach Steve Spurrier made him a promise - he'd get to wear his old Palm Bay High number.

20.

It wasn't a matter of whether he would play in the NFL as either a linebacker or running back. It was just a matter of when. But on senior skip day, James McGriff went for a swim.

"To this day, I haven't had that birthday party,"� Ernestine recalled recently. "I couldn't. I just didn't want a party after that."�

The funeral was so overwhelming, it had to be held at the school. And when they laid McGriff to rest, he was sent to heaven with his Gators jersey on. No. 20 drew a packed house one final time.

So many years later, every time Ernestine watches a Gator game on television, she still looks for No. 20.

"If you have that number on,"� Ernestine said softly, "You are something special."�

Little could anyone have realized it at the time. But when McGriff was lowered into the ground, it wasn't the end of a legend in Brevard County. It was just the beginning.

And that tradition continues at 12:21 p.m. Saturday, when the University of Florida hosts Toledo in the 2013 season opener.

'Nobody taking that number from me'

Joe Cohen was the first to follow McGriff to Gainesville. He immediately asked for No. 20 as a fullback. When he moved to the defensive line, the number went with him.

"I didn't have to argue a whole lot,"� Cohen recalls with a chuckle. "Nobody was taking that number from me. ... I knew it was an odd number for a d-lineman but I didn't care."�

He did it proud.

Florida won a national title in 2006, Cohen's senior year. He was a star defensive tackle and went on to become an NFL draft pick and played several years in the pros.

Cohen went one step further. Still a few classes shy of his degree, he followed the McGriff legend of not giving up. He went back this past year and finished, celebrating his accomplishment this past summer.

Part of the reason for picking up the books again? He could hear No. 20 pushing him to finish the drill.

"I went to his funeral, the whole city of Palm Bay went to his funeral. ... To see his family hurt so bad, it was hard,"� Cohen recalled of McGriff's passing.

When Cohen left Florida he had some time in the NFL that ended while with the Detroit Lions. He calls himself retired after a season in the CFL.

But the legend of No. 20 was far from over.

A man with his own story

Marcus Maye wanted to wear No. 21 at Florida. It was his high school number at Holy Trinity. Maye grew up in Palm Bay but went his own path to Gainesville, attending Holy Trinity.

Some of the local kids teased him but not that much. Maye, you see, is special. Try finding anyone to say a bad word. Cohen won't.

"Trust me,"� Cohen said, "that kid will do more to live up to No. 20 than I ever did. He's going to be special."�

Maye's mother, Beverly, ran track, played softball and basketball and used to cheer for both James and Joe from the stands, then Marcus. The Mayes knew the Cohens and the McGriffs. In fact, when James died, the mothers of all three football players cried at the funeral.

No. 20 is a uniform number. The bond between the three families is closer. Marcus had a brother who played with McGriff in the same backfield and a second who was equally close. So it was almost perfect that Marcus couldn't get 21. It was almost destiny that he wear No. 20 in Gainesville.

"I know all that story growing up. I asked for it once I couldn't get 21. I asked for 20 just for the tradition, we all grew up down there and those guys did great things,"� Maye said, of his tribute to both McGriff and Cohen.

Marcus didn't really know James because he was a tiny child when McGriff was playing. He said he didn't recall seeing him play. But here's the irony, Beverly held him close many a Friday night at Pirates' games while McGriff was running wild.

He was there.

And wearing No. 20 now, Maye feels it. He feels the tradition. He feels the warmth of No. 20.

"McGriff is definitely still around Melbourne, we feel like,"� Maye said. "When it comes to football and you talk about Brevard County and Palm Bay his name is definitely still around."�

"I definitely feel like once I put the helmet and uniform on and jersey number ... there is definitely a lot that comes with it. Just knowing the player he was and the person he was. (Cohen) told me I had to represent it pretty well.''

Another fighter from Palm Bay

McGriff would be proud already. Maye suffered a knee injury in high school hoops, sat out last season, and had to fight his way onto the depth chart.

"At first it was a nightmare but then I had to put things in perspective,"� Maye said of his tough first year in Gainesville. "I realized I had to get my knee right, realized who was in front of me playing with Matt (Elam) and Josh (Evans)."�

The duo were NFL draft picks after last season. Now it's Maye's turn.

"I'm pretty sure it's going to be surreal to walk out there, knowing that you are going to play in a game and everything that comes with it, that I've been working hard for,"� Maye said. "Pretty much it's a dream come true, growing up."�

Maye has drawn raves from teammates and coaches this preseason.

"He's always around the ball,"� Gators defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin said. "He has great skill-set for the position. That's a guy we take over and over again at the safety position. He's long. He's rangy. He's physical, and he's a smart football player. He has done a great job getting better and better with all the snaps he had in the spring as well as here in the fall. We're looking for a great year out of him."�

Maye could not have come into his own at a better time for Florida. Coming into camp there were some concerns who would step up.

While some of the leading contenders to win a job struggled with injuries at times, Maye has been consistently good.

As camp went on, already assured of a lot of playing time, it became obvious that Maye could play a bigger role than anticipated.

Beverly Maye, who used to take little Marcus to Palm Bay High games where James McGriff and Marcus's older brother Ronea played in the same backfield, gets goose bumps when she thinks about what it will be like to see him standing on Florida Field wearing No. 20.

"Words,"� says Beverly, whose god brother Fred McCallister played linebacker for UF in the '80s, "cannot describe what I will feel."�

She is not alone.

Cohen said he will be thinking, "My boy is wearing that number. My boy is really wearing that number."�

Quietly, she will watch

Back in Brevard, Ernestine McGriff had a message for Marcus Maye.

"He's wearing No. 20 so you can tell him I'm a huge fan,"� she chuckled. "Tell him, I'm cheering for him."�

This past January, Ernestine became ill. She had pneumonia but didn't realize it until it was almost too late. In Holmes Regional, Ernestine went into a coma for almost two months and there were times when doctors didn't think she'd make it.

But in March, she started coming around. At the same time Marcus was fighting his way back from a serious knee problem, the mother of another No. 20 was fighting for her own life while another former No. 20, Joe Cohen, was fighting to finish his college degree.

Back in Palm Bay, in April, Ernestine started feeling better. So she made the trek to James' gravesite for his birthday. As she walked through the fence, across the graves to say hello to her son, sitting there was someone to greet her.

It was an orange and green Gator.

Ernestine would gather it up like the dozens and dozens of other toy Gators so many had left over the years and add it to the collection from those who loved her son and dreamed of seeing the original No. 20 run across the field on Saturdays. They still think of toy Gators when they think of James McGriff.

Forgive them.

James McGriff is gone. So many years have gone by and so many Gators have visited with No. 20 still sleeping quietly in that orange Gator jersey.

Cohen wore it for him for so many years. Now another Palm Bay kid will put it on and run through the tunnel once again on Saturdays. No. 20, in so many ways, lives on.