Aubrey Falls "Laney" Lanier (February 18, 1888 – April 25, 1936) was a

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

player.

Early years

Aubrey was born on February 18, 1888, in the city of Butler in

Lonoke County, Arkansas Lonoke County is located in the Central Arkansas region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 68,356, making it the 11th-most populous of Arkansas's 75 counties. The county seat is Lonoke and largest city is ...

, to Isaac Hill Lanier and Mary "Ellen" Cooper.

Sewanee

He was a halfback for the

Sewanee Tigers The University of the South, familiarly known as Sewanee (), is a private Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is owned by 28 Province 4 of the Epis ...

of Sewanee: The University of the South from 1907 to 1910, thrice selected All-Southern. Vanderbilt head coach

Dan McGugin Daniel Earle McGugin (July 29, 1879 – January 23, 1936) was an American football player and coach, as well as a lawyer. He served as the head football coach at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee from 1904 to 1917 and again from ...

rated him as one of the greatest he ever saw.

Grantland Rice Henry Grantland "Granny" Rice (November 1, 1880July 13, 1954) was an early 20th-century American sportswriter known for his elegant prose. His writing was published in newspapers around the country and broadcast on the radio. Early years Rice wa ...

rated him amongst the best ever at punt returns. He would catch punts whilst running at full speed. An all-time Sewanee team noted "Critics declare Aubrey Lanier the equal of

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the ...

as a safety man."

1907

McGugin said of Lanier in 1907 that he was "a star of purest ray, and came near winning the Vanderbilt game by his brilliant dashes after receiving punts."

1909

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

when Sewanee won an SIAA championship Rice called him "the noblest Tiger of them all." The ''Kappa Alpha Journal'' gives similar praise that year, calling Lanier "The greatest performer of the college game on the Southern field.

1910

Lanier was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 1910 Sewanee team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanier, Aubrey 1888 births 1936 deaths American football halfbacks Sewanee Tigers football players All-Southern college football players Players of American football from Arkansas People from Lonoke County, Arkansas