Center Tanner Rowell was placed on scholarship by Gators head coach Dan Mullen on Wednesday night. (Photo: Tim Casey/UAA Communications)

Tony Rowell at UF in 1991. (File photo)

GAINESVILLE, Fla. –dad wanted him to wait until high school to start playing football. Tanner had other plans and joined his first team while in elementary school.When Tanner finished his career at Melbourne (Fla.) High School several years later as an undersized all-state defensive tackle, his dad didn't push him toward the University of Florida. Not that it mattered. Tanner already had decided on college."I had a bunch of offers from smaller schools,''said Thursday. "This is just where I was going to play. It's been in my head since I was a little kid."When Tanner got home Wednesday night shortly after he received one of the biggest surprises of his life, he made a phone call. He had something to tell dad.Former Gators lineman Tony Rowell was thrilled – "psyched up" in the words of the second-oldest of Tony and Denise's six kids – when Tanner told him that UF head coachannounced at a team meeting that he was being put on scholarship."Unbelievable. He has been working so hard,'' said Tony Rowell, who played for the Gators from 1988-91. "Like I told him, for him it probably feels better earning that scholarship than being given it out of high school. It was just phenomenal news. He has been given an opportunity and taken full advantage of it."walked onto the team in the summer of 2016 and did whatever he could to improve his first three seasons in the program. He finally got on the field a season ago on special teams and chipped in four tackles as a reserve defensive lineman. For the second time since he joined the Gators, Rowell moved from defense to offense in the spring to add depth at offensive line."He has played basically played every single position on the offensive and defensive lines,'' starting centersaid. "For him to stick with it and really give his all to the program, it's just awesome."With the second week of preseason camp coming to a close, the 6-foot-2, 283-pound Rowell has worked primarily at second-team center behind Buchanan. During Wednesday night's team meeting, Mullen showed the Gators clips of the HBO series "Hard Knocks" featuring the Oakland Raiders.Following a scene in which Coach Jon Gruden told the Raiders he was in quest of players who truly love the game, Mullen turned toand asked if he loved football. No one had a doubt what Rowell's answer would be.What caught everyone by surprise was when Mullen made the scholarship announcement. A little while later Buchanan tweeted a congratulatory note to his teammate."It was probably one of the best moments for me just being happy for someone else,'' Buchanan said. "He is really committed to the program and just the betterment of it. To see the look on his face, it was just awesome. It was a great moment."An outdoorsman in his free time, Tanner is known more for his cowboy hat, pickup truck and retro hairstyle than anything he has done on the field at UF. However, he arrived at camp ready to compete following a summer helping on a farm with "200 heads of mama cows" owned by a former UF agricultural professor.An accomplished student who has twice been on the All-Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll, Tanner saw an opportunity to carve out a place in the lineup with the Gators losing four starters from the offensive line off last year's team.The drive to earn a scholarship was a motivating factor, too."I was hoping. Coming into this camp, that was something that I kind of put at the top of my goals,'' he said. "I can't even put it into words, really. Kind of everything I've been working for since I got here."Whenever doubts crept into his mind, Tanner had an experienced role model to talk to in Tony, who started his career on the defensive line but didn't blossom until 1990 whentook over the program and moved Tony to the offensive line."Tony Rowell will fight you,'' Spurrier said then. "Maybe we need a little meanness on our offensive line."Tony developed into a two-year starter and good enough player to be selected by the then-Los Angeles Raiders in the 1992 NFL Draft. Following a short stint in professional football, Tony and Denise – high school sweethearts growing up in Melbourne – eventually returned to their hometown where Tony owns a manufacturing business and is preparing for his first season as head coach at Melbourne High.While Tony received a scholarship straight out of high school and Tanner had to earn one as a walk-on, dad has never doubted his son's ability."I think he was better in high school than I was,'' Tony said Thursday. "He has been told his whole life he is a Division I player. He got a lot of Division II offers, but he said, 'Dad, I want to go to the University of Florida.' I just said, 'You know what you've got to do there.' He went there and did what he had to do."Whilemight not always take Tony's advice, he listened closely to what he had to say about playing for the Gators.Father knew best."My mom thinks that we're two-alike,'' Tanner said. "At certain times when I got down on myself, he would just always tell me, 'keep going, keep going.' It finally paid off."