Willis William Middlekauff (December 28, 1904 – September 1957) was an American

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, attorney,

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

, and

wrestler Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat sport ...

University of Florida

Middlekauff from 1922–25 and in 1927 was a member of the University of Florida swimming,

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

teams. He was often called "Big Bill." At UF he was a member of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

Football

Middlekauff was a prominent fullback for coach

James Van Fleet General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and gradu ...

and coach Tom Sebring's

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Eastern Division of ...

team of the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

from 1923 to

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

, and

1926 Events January * January 3 – Theodoros Pangalos declares himself dictator in Greece. * January 8 **Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud is crowned King of Hejaz. ** Crown Prince Nguyễn Phúc Vĩnh Thuy ascends the throne, the last monarch of V ...

to 1927. One accounts recalls he "rams a line and can back one up to perfection." Jeff Moshier called him Florida's greatest fullback. In 1927, the ''Florida Alumnus'', the official organ of the Florida Alumni, agreed. In his first season on the freshman team, the team won the southern crown for freshmen squads.

1924

In the 14–7 loss to Army, Middlekauff broke his left leg on what coach

Van Fleet Van Fleet is a surname; it is an Americanized spelling of the Dutch surname van Vliet. Notable people with the surname include: * Beth Van Fleet (born 1977), American beach volleyball player *James Van Fleet (1892–1992), United States Army offic ...

argued was an uncalled clipping penalty. Middlekauff had only just returned to the team.

1926

Middlekauff returned in 1926.

1927

He 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 team in 1927, elected after the regular captain Frank Oosterhoudt was declared ineligible. The season started poorly including an 0–12 upset to

Davidson Davidson may refer to: * Davidson (name) * Clan Davidson, a Highland Scottish clan * Davidson Media Group * Davidson Seamount, undersea mountain southwest of Monterey, California, USA * Tyler Davidson Fountain, monument in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA * ...

before Middlekauff was elected captain, and was much better afterwards. Aside from Davidson the Gators lost only to

Jack McDowall John Witherspoon McDowall (June 26, 1905 – May 25, 1969), known as "Spindle Legs", was an American football, baseball, basketball player and track athlete at North Carolina State University. McDowall was recognized as an All-Southern footb ...

SoCon The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I. Southern Conference football teams compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly kn ...

champion

NC State Wolfpack The NC State Wolfpack is the nickname of the athletic teams representing North Carolina State University. The Wolfpack competes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for college footb ...

and the Georgia Bulldogs' " dream and wonder team." Against Georgia he aggravated an injury. He was the only player of the Gators selected All-Southern that year. In an all-star game of Pacific Coast stars against

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

stars hampered by rain, Middlekauff got the only score of the game in an 8–0 victory for the South.

Boxing

After practicing law in Miami for a short time, Middlekauff was a professional

, scoring several knockouts. In a professional boxing career as a heavyweight, he had record of 6 Wins (5 by knockout) 7 Losses (5 by knockout) and 1 Draw in 14 bouts.

Wrestling

Middlekauff also wrestled professionally from 1930 to 1946. He once met former

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

fullback

Doug Wycoff Stephen Douglas Wycoff (September 16, 1903 – October 27, 1981) was an American football running back for the New York Giants, Staten Island Stapletons, and Boston Redskins in the National Football League (NFL), the Newark Bears in the fir ...

in a match, the main event at the Atlanta Municipal Auditorium for Georgia Championship Wrestling promoter Henry Weber. Wycoff won the contest. One account reads "Bill has a habit of hurling his 235 pounds of brawn at his rival to bring him down almost exactly as he did in blocking a would-be tackler out of the play during his football days."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Middlekauff, Bill American football fullbacks Florida Gators football players All-Southern college football players American male sport wrestlers American male boxers 1904 births Players of American football from Miami 1957 deaths American football linebackers Sportspeople from Miami