GAINESVILLE, Fla. – As it turned out, the “Two Bits” invite that Ahmad Black got was the second-most eventful thing that happened to the former Florida football standout last week. 
 
“We had a baby Tuesday,” Black said. 
 
Ace Black (7 pounds, 7 ounces) will keep his mother at home this weekend, but Dad will be at Spurrier/Florida Field when the 15th-ranked Gators open the 2025 season Saturday night against Long Island. Black’s other two kids (parents and in-laws, as well) will be at “The Swamp” to see one of the best and most decorated UF defensive backs of his generation kick off the 13^th year of the celebrity “Mr. Two Bits” tradition, as well as the highly anticipated fourth season of the Billy Napier era. 
 
Black will join seven former teammates – Percy Harvin, Brandon Spikes and Major Wright, among them – to get the honorary “Two Bits” call. And, yes, for former players it’s become a pretty big deal. 
 
“It’s cool, man,” said Black, now 36. “Any time you get to go to ‘The Swamp’ again it’s an amazing opportunity. Things people deal with on a daily basis get forgotten when you get to go cheer for your team. It’s just great to be around the fans that have grown to love and support you at Florida.” 
 
Black was easy to pull for. A hotshot prospect out of Lakeland High, he played sparingly as a freshman in 2007, then started all 14 games at strong safety during the Gators’ 2008 national-championship season, finishing with 59 tackles, a team-high seven interceptions and two touchdowns. One of those picks was in Florida’s 24-14 defeat of No. 1 Oklahoma in the BCS title game at Miami. 
 
In 2010, Black was honored as first-team All-SEC and first-team All-America, capping his career with a MVP performance in the Outback Bowl with two interceptions, including an 80-yard touchdown return to seal a 37-24 victory over Penn State at Tampa, less than an hour from his hometown; on the final play of his collegiate career, no less. 

Black was a fifth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2011 and played three seasons with the club. He finished work on his UF Family Youth and Community Science degree in 2017 and now serves as community health coordinator at Lakeland Regional Hospital. 
 
Just as he’ll relish a chance to come back, he cherishes his time with the Gators. Not necessarily because of the championships or honors.
 
“Everybody wants to be recognized for their accomplishments,” Black said. “But I didn’t play for accolades. If I’m blessed enough to get into the UF Hall of Fame one day, that’ll be great. But I didn’t play for that. I played the game because I enjoyed it and made memories for people and with people who I forged lifelong relationships and became my brothers. I got rings for championships, which are amazing, but the lifelong bonds I have with people, that’s what really matters.” 
 
Like, for example, the man who approached Black once and recalled being at Raymond James Stadium with his Gator-loving parents to see that touchdown return in the bowl game. The man’s parents had passed away, but the memory Black gave him would remain for a lifetime.

He thanked Black for that.

“Very special,” he said.

Now Black gets to make a memory of his own. 
 
Bring on the 2025 season, one of Gator Nation’s most hyped in years. 
 
“It has been one of the most talked-about preseasons we’ve had in a while … and I don’t know if that’s awesome or not,” Black said. “But we’ve got a lot of eyes on us again, so let’s go.”
 
Email senior writer Chris Harry at chrish@gators.ufl.edu