Larry Dupree
{{Short description|American football player (1943–2014)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox college football player
|name=Larry Dupree
|image=Larry Dupree (1965 Seminole).png
|image_size=140
|alt=
|caption=Dupree from 1965 Seminole yearbook
|currentposition=Halfback, Fullback
|birth_date={{Birth date|1943|12|22}}
|birth_place=Baker County, Florida, U.S.
|death_date={{Death date and age|2014|6|15|1943|12|22}}
|death_place= Macclenny, Florida, U.S.
|currentnumber=35
|school=Florida Gators
|pastschools=
- Florida (1962–1964)
|highschool=Baker County
|class=Graduate
|highlights=
- First-team All-American (1964)
- 3× First-team All-SEC (1962, 1963, 1964)
- Florida–Georgia Hall of Fame
}}
Lawrence Wallace Dupree (December 22, 1943 – June 15, 2014) was an American college football player. He played at the halfback and fullback positions for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida. In 1964, he became the first Florida Gators running back to be selected as a first-team All-American. He was also the first Florida player to receive first-team All-SEC honors in three seasons.
Early years
Dupree was born in 1943 to Wallace and Dorothy Thrift Dupree. He graduated from Baker County High School in Glen St. Mary, Florida.
University of Florida
Dupree enrolled at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played at the halfback and fullback positions for coach Ray Graves's Florida Gators football team from 1962 to 1964. In 1962, he established himself as a star by gaining 111 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the Florida–Georgia game.{{cite news|title=Larry Dupree Makes Georgia Sorry, Scores Twice as Gators Win, 23-15|newspaper=The Miami News|date=November 11, 1962|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19621111&id=2XYyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2OkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3837,3808113}} For the 1962 season, he gained 604 yards on 113 carried (5.4 yards per carry), scored seven touchdowns, and was the only sophomore to be named to the All-SEC team.{{cite news|title=Florida's Larry Dupree Makes All-SEC Grid Team|newspaper=Palm Beach Daily News|date=November 29, 1962|page=5|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1961&dat=19621129&id=xHMtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FJcFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5550,3315479}} He was also named Playboy magazine's All-America team in 1962.{{cite news|title=UF's Larry Dupree: Man on the Go|author=John Crittenden|newspaper=The Miami News|date=August 27, 1963|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2206&dat=19630827&id=9SUzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4ukFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1728,4299858}}
As a junior in 1963, Dupree's wife delivered the couple's first child stillborn two days before the Georgia game. After staying up all night, Dupree received a police escort on game day. He gained 74 rushing yards and 34 receiving yards to lead the Gators to a 21-14 victory over Georgia.Pat Dooley, "[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20140616/ARTICLES/140619760?tc=ar Gator great Larry Dupree dies at 71]," The Gainesville Sun (June 16, 2014). Retrieved September 18, 2014.
After his senior year, he was selected by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) as a first-team player on its 1964 College Football All-America Team.{{cite web|url=http://www.afca.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=69273&SPID=7863&DB_OEM_ID=9300&ATCLID=289344|publisher=American Football Coaches Association|title=All-America Teams|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090727192301/http://www.afca.com/SportSelect.dbml?SPSID=69273&SPID=7863&DB_OEM_ID=9300&ATCLID=289344|archivedate=July 27, 2009}} In April 1965, his home town of Macclenny, Florida, held a parade and "Larry Dupree Day" with 3,000 persons attending in honor of the town's All-American. At the event, Florida coach Ray Graves said he could take no credit for Dupree who was "simply born great," and state senator Walter Fraser called Dupree "one of the greatest young men the state has ever produced." In brief comments to the crowd, Dupree called it "the greatest day of my life", expressed thanks to coach Graves, and called Macclenny "the greatest place in the world to live."{{cite news|title=Home Town Spree for Larry Dupree: Macclenny Turns Out To Salute Its Hero, University of Florida Football Great . . . And All-American|author=Larry Woods|newspaper=Daytona Beach Morning Journal|date=April 25, 1965|pages=5–6|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1873&dat=19650425&id=HagoAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ossEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4159,5508516}}
Dupree was the first Florida running back to receive first-team All-America honors. He was also the first Florida player to receive first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) honors three times.{{cite news|title=Former Florida football great Larry Dupree 'put Macclenny on the map'|newspaper=Florida Times-Union|date=June 19, 2014|url=http://jacksonville.com/sports/college/florida-gators/2014-06-19/story/former-florida-football-great-larry-dupree-put}} In a series of articles written by the sports editors of The Gainesville Sun in 2006, Dupree was ranked as No. 33 of the 100 greatest players in the first 100 years Gators football history.Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "[http://www.gainesville.com/article/20060801/GATORS70/60731015 No. 33 Larry Dupree]," The Gainesville Sun (August 1, 2006). Retrieved September 2, 2014.
Later years
After graduating from the University of Florida, Dupree returned to Baker County, Florida, where he lived his entire life. For many years, he was the manager of an Oldsmobile car dealership in Jacksonville.{{cite web|title=Lawrence "Larry" Dupree|publisher=Guerry Funeral Home|accessdate=September 2, 2014|url=http://www.guerryfuneralhome.net/obits/obituary.php?id=478742}}
Dupree was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1968.F Club, Hall of Fame, [http://www.gatorfclub.org/hall-of-fame/greats Gator Greats]. Retrieved December 14, 2014. In 2014, after being diagnosed with lung cancer, Dupree died of a heart attack at Ed Fraser Memorial Hospital in Macclenny.
See also
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dupree, Larry}}
Category:American football halfbacks
Category:Florida Gators football players