In just over a week it will be the 20th anniversary of Jacksonville being awarded an NFL franchise.

 

I know some of you were probably were not alive or too young to remember.

 

But for those of us here, it will be a day that will be hard to forget. Most people forget but just a few months prior, it looked like our hope of an NFL franchise was not going to happen as our bid fell apart. But the NFL delayed the announcement of the second franchise. Giving Jacksonville enough time to sell 10,000 club seats and secure the team.

 

I was in 8th grade and at basketball practice when the announcement was made but our coach had the TV on and we saw he moment when Deron Cherry gave Dan Hicken the thumbs up at the hotel in Chicago and confirmed what we had all hoped for. Paul Tagliabue confirmed it just a short time later. Jacksonville went nuts. After dinner, my family when to JCPenney to buy shirts. Any store that was selling Jaguars shirts had a line wrapped around the building. We waited in line an hour just for a chance to buy a shirt. They had a lottery and our names got pulled. There was a buzz in the city that day that I have never seen. I think only winning a Super Bowl could top it.

 

Some of that is captured in this video someone posted on Youtube including the Deron Cherry moment.

 

http://youtu.be/WPW5vYO8NAU

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