Fatty Lawrence
{{Short description|American football player}}
{{Distinguish|Fats Lawrence}}
{{Infobox person
|image=Fatty Lawrence.jpg
|image_size=220px
|birth_place=Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S.
|birth_date={{birth date|1903|5|6}}
|death_place=Nashville, Tennessee, U.S.
|death_date=August, 1976 (aged 73)
|occupation=head of Nashville’s Water and Sewerage Services Department
|module={{Infobox college football player|embed=yes
|school=Vanderbilt Commodores
|class=Graduate
|height_ft=5
|height_in=7
|weight_lb=195
|currentnumber=19; 15
|currentposition=Guard
|highschool=Hume-Fogg
|pastschools=Vanderbilt (1921–1924)
|highlights=
}}
}}
Robert Landy "Fatty" Lawrence (May 6, 1903 – August, 1976){{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JLWP-ZZX|title=Family Search}} was a college football player who went on to become the superintendent of Nashville’s Water and Sewerage Services Department from 1932 to 1971;{{Cite web|url=http://www.nashville.gov/Water-Services/About-Us/History/Superintendents-and-Directors.aspx|title = Nashville > Water Services > About Us > History > Superintendents and Directors}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/one-soldiers-story/Content?oid=1180646|title=One Soldier's Story|author=Rob Simbeck|date=August 1, 1996}}{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yDkkAQAAMAAJ&q=%22robert+l.+lawrence%22+nashville+water|year=1939|journal=Journal of the American Water Works Association|volume=31|page=977|title=Cross-Connection Elimination in Nashville|author=Robert L. Lawrence Jr.|issue=6|doi=10.1002/j.1551-8833.1939.tb12834.x}} namesake of the Robert L. Lawrence Jr., Filtration Plant. He was the father of United States Navy vice admiral William P. Lawrence and the grandfather of NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence.
Vanderbilt University
Lawrence was a prominent guard for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football team of Vanderbilt University from 1921 to 1924.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19241208&id=e1YsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LMoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4362,6199849&hl=en|title=Vanderbilt Will Lose Six Gridiron Stars|work=Spartanburg Herald|date=December 8, 1924}} He was a part of three conference titles.
=1922=
In the second week of play of 1922 against Henderson-Brown, Vanderbilt won 33 to 0. Lawrence recovered a fumble in the end zone for Vanderbilt's fourth touchdown.{{Closed access}} [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=W5EI4FONMTM1ODMzMzEzNy4zMDY4Njk6MToxNToxMzIuMTk4LjIyNC4yMDk&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=8&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=8&p_docnum=1&p_docref=v2:11210D409F608820@EANX-117BC6B1C2D2CB28@2423336-117BC6B290F53790@25-117BC6B645AC0E90@Vandy+Defeats+Arkansas+Team.+Although+Playing+Slovenly+Ball%2C+Commodores+Win+by+33-0 "Vandy Defeats Arkansas Team."] The Macon Daily Telegraph 8 Oct. 1922: 8. Lawrence also intercepted a pass in the scoreless tie with Michigan.{{Closed access}} {{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/1873197002.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+15%2C+1922&author=SAM+GREENE&pub=Detroit+Free+Press+(1858-1922)&edition=&startpage=21&desc=Michigan+And+Vanderbitt+Play+To+Scoreless+Tie+In+Commodores%27+Stadium.|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104170555/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/1873197002.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+15,+1922&author=SAM+GREENE&pub=Detroit+Free+Press+(1858-1922)&edition=&startpage=21&desc=Michigan+And+Vanderbitt+Play+To+Scoreless+Tie+In+Commodores'+Stadium.|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 4, 2013|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|title=Michigan and Vanderbilt play to Scoreless Tie In Commodores' Stadium: Southerns Spring Surprise on Rivals|author=Sam S. Greene|author-link=Sam Greene (sportswriter)|date=October 15, 1922}} He was mentioned as one of the players of the game in the 14 to 6 victory over Tennessee. The Nashville Banner said Lawrence had been "in there doing a man's job blocking a kick and tackling with the deadliness of a tiger unleashed in a cave of lions."Russell, Fred, and Maxwell Edward Benson. Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football. Nashville, TN, 1938, p. 40–41
=1924=
References
{{Reflist}}
{{1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox}}
{{1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Fatty}}
Category:Vanderbilt Commodores football players
Category:American football guards
Category:Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee
Category:Players of American football from Murfreesboro, Tennessee