Historian Gary Mormino to talk about Florida’s ‘state religion’ during sports talk in St. Pete

Faith, family, football, Florida. To gloss over the connection football has with the Sunshine State might be a sin. Just ask renowned author Gary Mormino, who once declared football a “state religion in Florida.”

Like a field of unkempt grass, from Tallahassee to Miami and all that’s between, football is woven into the roots of Florida and has created generations of stories that beg to be told. Thankfully, Mormino heard the call.

At the Saturday Night Lights: Florida & Football seminar he’ll recount passionate tales of one of America’s greatest love stories, Floridians and football. Mormino, a former Humanities Lifetime Achievement Award winner named Florida Icon by Florida Trend, will tell us how here, the game is a genuine, meaningful purpose that rises above political and social issues and gives the people an opportunity to come together.

As Mormino states in “Dreams in the New Century,” a book he wrote on Florida’s history, football acts as a “safety valve to Floridians” that many use to “escape the numbness of identity politics and forever wars.”

There’s no cover for Saturday Night Lights: Florida and Football happening Wednesday, Sept. 18 at First Presbyterian Church in St. Petersburg.
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This article appears in Sep 5-11, 2024.