GAINESVILLE, Fla. — It’s a reality Aidan Mizell must live with, and he is okay with that. He did it, and everyone saw it.

The final judgment was unmistakable: Mizell made arguably the most dynamic play of Florida’s 2024 season.

“If you look at my Hudl highlights from high school, all I did was catch little screen routes and take them to the end zone,” Mizell said. “After I did the run, I was like, ‘dang, that reminds me of high school.’ It was fun.”

The travesty is that Mizell’s 65-yard catch and zigzag to the end zone in last season’s win at Mississippi State didn’t count among Mizell’s season statistics of 17 catches, 202 yards and two touchdowns. Officials erased the pass from Graham Mertz and Mizell’s highlight-worthy score after a controversial blind-side block penalty on running back Montrell Johnson Jr.

The play lives on in memory. In a rare turn of events, the social-media analysis seemed to agree: Mizell and the Gators got robbed.

 

This is one of the greatest plays ever to not count. Mizell is a DOG 🐊 pic.twitter.com/IRTuhbt3Qp

— Florida Gators 🐊🔥 (@gatorsszn) September 21, 2024

“I don’t care that it called back; it’s on film,” said Wil Mizell, Aidan’s father. “That’s him. That one play where he shook everybody, that’s him at 5 years old. That’s the same kid.”

Mizell appeared ready for a breakout role after his five-catch, 36-yard performance (officially) at Mississippi State. The stage was set for a memorable return to The Swamp when the Gators hosted UCF two weeks later.

Mizell grew up in Orlando and starred on a Boone High team loaded at receiver in his career, getting his first scholarship offer from the Knights. Mizell waited for his turn as teammates Parker St. John (Air Force), Javion Phelps (South Dakota) and two-way standout JaCorey Thomas (Georgia) caught the bulk of the passes on their way to scholarships.

With the Gators having a bye week before the UCF game, Mizell went home for the weekend and attended the UCF-Colorado game with some friends, excited to play against his hometown school the following week with many family and friends at the game.

Instead, Mizell suffered an injury that week at practice and missed the game. The guy couldn’t catch a break. When he returned to action, Mizell went back-to-back games without a catch until, making his first career start, he hauled in four passes for 66 yards against Georgia, including a 43-yard touchdown from DJ Lagway.

As Mizell prepares for his third season with the Gators, the redshirt sophomore is vying for a larger role at a position group that added talented newcomers J. Michael Sturdivant, Dallas Wilson, Naeshaun Montgomery and Vernell Brown III since last season. Meanwhile, veteran Eugene Wilson III is back and, while slowed by injury in preseason camp along with Dallas Wilson, can shake and bake like Mizell.

“I feel like I still have a lot to go. I feel like there’s always more to do, but I feel like I’ve gotten better at my top of the route, route running, every little nook and cranny,” Mizell said. “I feel like on the field I’m looking at stuff I wasn’t looking at before, I’m understanding stuff I wasn’t understanding before.”

Mizell is known primarily for three things at this point of his career. First, his parents both ran track at UF. Wil Mizell was a jumper and decathlete, and his wife, Ebony Robinson-Mizell, was a sprinter who won the 400-meter Southeastern Conference title in 1996.

Second, Mizell has track speed on the football field. Aidan said he discovered early on that he had a sprinter’s ability on his side. 

“Elementary school, that was the big thing,” he said. “You’re cool if you’re fast. In third grade, I was always trying to race the fifth-graders. I always knew I had some athletic and speed ability.” 

Finally, Mizell went viral on social media in 2022 when he announced his commitment to Florida. He had narrowed down the decision to Alabama, Tennessee and Florida after his grandmother devised a blind test for Mizell and his parents on the pros and cons of each.

Aidan kept his parents guessing until near the end, when Wil came up with the plan for his oldest son to bring a couple of young baby alligators to the official announcement. 

“We can’t do the elephant [Alabama], that ain’t going to happen. If it’s the Volunteers, I can get a hound dog,” Wil told him. “If it’s the Gators, there is Gatorland. I can rent an alligator. That’s how it went down. 

“It was a big deal [he chose Florida]. We were hyped.”

Mizell drew national attention for his quirky announcement and became an instant favorite of Florida fans. He seeks the next phase of his career to include more plays, such as the one at Mississippi State. 

The 6-foot-1.5, 176-pound wideout was recently slowed at practice due to an injury but returned this week. Mizell capped his redshirt freshman season with four catches for 50 yards in Florida’s victory over Tulane in the Gasparilla Bowl. 

“It’s a deep, competitive camp,” Napier said early in camp. “I’m excited about Aidan being back.” 

Mizell is still a young player out to prove himself, but he is enough of a veteran to offer advice for his younger brother, Isaiah Mizell, who is a freshman at Arizona in his first preseason camp. The Mizell family’s busy football season is about to kick off. 

“I’ve told both my boys, ‘Yeah, you’re good, you’ve got great gifts, but there’s about a thousand of you that have existed on this earth already.’ You’re not a special case,” said Wil Mizell, who played football at St. Cloud (Fla.) High. “There is somebody that is just as fast, just as aggressive, just as talented. 

“Aidan is very analytical, looks at the angles, sees the issues. He does that on the football field. He is kind of like a quarterback out there on the edge. He knows where everyone is and what is supposed to happen.” 

Mizell didn’t start playing tackle football until he was a teenager at the insistence of his mother. In a family of Division I athletes, Ebony set a competitive tone in the household. 

Aidan has a story about that. 

“She had a sticky note, ‘D-1 Only,’ on her bedroom door,” he said. “I would have to knock and wait for her to open the door before I was allowed in. She made it known she was the best athlete of the family.” 

The entire Mizell family is now D-1. Aidan said Friday that he is healthy and eager to make more plays like the one at Mississippi State — and have it count, of course. 

“If you’re still sleeping on me, that’s one on y’all,” he said. “I’ll show what I can do this year and move forward.”