1945 Florida A&M Rattlers football team

{{short description|American college football season}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox college sports team season

| year = 1945

| team = Florida A&M Rattlers

| sport = football

| image =

| image_size =

| conference = Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

| short_conf = SIAC

| record = 9–1

| conf_record = 6–0

| head_coach = Jake Gaither

| hc_year = 1st

| captain =

| stadium = Sampson-Bragg Field

| champion = SIAC champion

| bowl = Orange Blossom Classic

| bowl_result = L 6–32 vs. Wiley

}}

The 1945 Florida A&M Rattlers football team was an American football team that represented Florida A&M College as a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) during the 1945 college football season. In their first season under head coach Jake Gaither, the Rattlers compiled a 9–1 record and won the SIAC championship. The team's sole loss was to undefeated black college national champion Wiley in the Orange Blossom Classic. The Rattlers played their home games at Sampson-Bragg Field in Tallahassee, Florida.

After seven years as an assistant coach, Jake Gaither took over as head football coach prior to the 1945 season. It was during the 1945 season that Gaither first adopted the "blood, sweat and tears" motto for his team, taking the phrase from the famous words of Winston Churchill.{{cite news|title=West Wind Blows|newspaper=Tallahassee Daily Democrat|date=October 12, 1945|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/8865337/gaithers_first_use_of_blood_sweat_and/|via=Newspapers.com}} Gaither's assistants in 1945 were Pete Griffin, M.L. Neeley, and Jess Ramsey.

Four Florida A&M players were named to the All-SIAC football team selected by the conference coaches: quarterback Leroy Cromartie; halfback Ted Montgomery; end Nathaniel Powell; and tackle Bill Brewington. Two others received honorable mention honors: center Forrest McKinney and fullback Lernard Ingraham.{{cite news|title=Four Rattlers Picked On All-Conference Team|newspaper=The Tallahassee Daily Democrat|author=C.B. Lindsey|date=December 19, 1945|page=9|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/39459552/four_rattlers_picked_on_allconference/|via=Newspapers.com}}

At the team banquet following the season, college president, Dr. William H. Gray Jr., praised the work of his young coach: "Although I value a winning football team, I value Coach Gaither, not because he has coached a championship team, but because he has proved himself to be a great teacher of men, both by precept and by example. The lessons that our boys have learned under the direction of Coach Gaither, if applied throughout life, will bring victory to them, not only on the field of athletic endeavor but also in the greater field that lies ahead."