July 11, 2001

Dear fellow shareholder:

I am pleased to inform you that as of June 26, 2001 Duck Head  Apparel  Company,
Inc.  ("Duck  Head")  entered into an Agreement  and Plan of Merger (the "Merger
Agreement")  with  Tropical  Sportswear  Int'l  Corporation  ("TSI")  and  TSI's
wholly-owned  subsidiary,  HB Acquisition Corp. ("HB Acquisition").  Pursuant to
the Merger  Agreement,  HB Acquisition  is today  commencing a tender offer (the
"Offer") to purchase all outstanding  shares of common stock, par value $.01 per
share,  of Duck Head (the "Shares") at a price of $4.75 per Share.  The Offer is
subject  to  several  conditions,   which  are  described  in  the  accompanying
documents.  The  $4.75  per  Share  being  offered  by TSI  and  HB  Acquisition
represents  approximately  a 79% premium to our closing  stock price on June 26,
2001.

The Merger  Agreement  provides that, if the Offer is completed,  HB Acquisition
will merge with and into Duck Head (the  "Merger"),  and Duck Head will become a
wholly-owned  subsidiary  of TSI. In the Merger,  each Share not  acquired by HB
Acquisition  in the Offer will be  converted  into the right to receive the same
consideration paid pursuant to the Offer.

Your Board of  Directors  has  unanimously  approved  the Merger  Agreement  and
determined  that the Offer and the Merger are fair to, and in the best interests
of,  the  shareholders  of Duck  Head.  Accordingly,  your  Board  of  Directors
recommends  that you accept the Offer and tender  your  Shares  pursuant  to the
Offer.

In  arriving  at  its  recommendation,  the  Board  of  Directors  gave  careful
consideration  to a number  of  factors  which  are  described  in the  enclosed
Schedule  14D-9,   which  is  being  filed  with  the  Securities  and  Exchange
Commission, including, among other things, the opinion of Kurt Salmon Associates
Capital  Advisors,  Inc. to the Board of Directors (the  "Opinion")  that, as of
June 26,  2001 and  subject to the  assumptions  made,  matters  considered  and
limitations on the review undertaken set forth in the Opinion, the $4.75 in cash
per Share to be received by the  shareholders  of Duck Head in the Offer and the
Merger is fair, from a financial point of view, to such  shareholders.  The full
text of the Opinion is attached as Annex B to the enclosed  Schedule 14D-9,  and
we urge you to read it carefully and in its entirety.

Additional  information  with  respect to the  transaction  is  contained in the
enclosed Schedule 14D-9, which we urge you to read carefully.

Accompanying this letter, in addition to the Schedule 14D-9, is HB Acquisition's
Offer to  Purchase,  dated July 11,  2001,  and related  materials,  including a
Letter of Transmittal to be used for tendering your Shares.  These documents set
forth the terms and conditions of the Offer and provide  instructions  as to how
to tender your  Shares.  On behalf of Duck Head, I urge you to read the enclosed
material and consider this information  carefully and I would like to personally
thank you for your time as a shareholder of Duck Head.

Sincerely,


/s/ William V. Roberti
William V. Roberti
Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer