Lamar Bruce Bennett Jr. (December 13, 1943 – January 12, 2021) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to risk management, the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are ...

in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for seven seasons during the 1960s and early 1970s. He played

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 ...

for 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 ...

, and was recognized as an All-American. Thereafter, Bennett played professionally for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

of the CFL.

Early life

Bennett was born in

Valdosta, Georgia Valdosta is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, Lowndes County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of 2019, Valdosta had an estimated population of 56,457. Valdosta is the principal city of the Valdosta Metr ...

, in 1943. He attended

Valdosta High School Valdosta High School is a public high school located in Valdosta, Georgia, United States. School Valdosta High School serves grades 9-12 in the Valdosta City School District. Valdosta High School is a public school located in VALDOSTA, GA. It ha ...

, and played

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for the Valdosta Wildcats high school football team. As a junior in 1960, he led the Wildcats to a 20–14 victory over Avondale High School in the Georgia state championship game. Bennett ran for a touchdown, threw for another, and ran for a third with twenty-nine seconds remaining to win the game. As a senior in 1961, he was recognized as a high school All-American.

College years

Bennett accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

in Gainesville, Florida, and played for coach

Ray Graves Samuel Ray Graves (December 31, 1918 – April 10, 2015) was an American college and professional American football, football player and college football coach. He was a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee, where ...

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 from

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

.
2012 Florida Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 76, 79, 87, 143, 158, 176 (2012). Retrieved September 15, 2012. Bennett set a Gators career record with thirteen interceptions, including three in the Gators' 21–14 victory over the

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The female athletic teams are sometimes referred to as Lady Bulldogs. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference ( ...

in 1963. He was the senior defensive team captain of the 1965 Gators team that finished 7–3 and earned a berth in the

1966 Sugar Bowl The 1966 Sugar Bowl was the 32nd edition of the college football bowl game, played at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Saturday, January 1. As a part of the 1965–66 bowl game season, it matched the sixth-ranked Missouri Tigers of t ...

, the Gators' first-ever New Year's Day bowl. He was a first-team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) selection in 1964 and 1965, and a United Press International first-team All-American in 1965. Ray Graves rated Bennett as the Gators' best free safety of the 1960s. Bennett graduated from the university with a bachelor's degree in 1968, and was later inducted into the

University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame The University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame includes over 300 former Florida Gators athletes who represented the University of Florida in one or more intercollegiate sports and were recognized as "Gator Greats" for their athletic excellence ...

as a "Gator Great." In a 2006 article series published by ''The Gainesville Sun'', the ''Sun'' sports editors rated him as the No. 38 all-time greatest Gator from the first 100 years of Florida football.

Professional career

Bennett joined the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1966, and participated in the team's 29–10

Grey Cup The Grey Cup (french: Coupe Grey) is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested be ...

victory over Ottawa.CFLapedia.com, Players A–Z
Bruce Bennett
Retrieved December 17, 2011. He played for the Roughriders from to , and became one of the league's top safeties. He also was the team's go-to "good hands" player for

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the o ...

s, and served as the team's emergency quarterback, completing 8 of 17 passes in his CFL career. He registered career highs of eight interceptions in both and . In seven CFL seasons, Bennett played in 112 games, and totaled thirty-five interceptions (including two he returned for touchdowns), and 606 return yards.Riderville.com, Team History
All-Time Leaders in Saskatchewan Roughrider History
. Retrieved December 17, 2011. His career interception total still ranks third on the Roughriders' all-time list. Bennett's teammates selected him as the team captain four times, and he earned six Western Conference All-Star selections (1967–1972) and one CFL All-Star selection (1969).

Death

Bruce Bennett died from complications of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

and

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Ocala, Florida Ocala ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marion County within the northern region of Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city's population was 63,591, making it the 54th most populated city in Florida. Home to ...

, on January 12, 2021. He was 77.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McEwen, Tom, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). . * Nash, Noel, ed., ''The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football'', Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Bruce 1943 births 2021 deaths All-American college football players American football defensive backs American players of Canadian football Canadian football defensive backs Florida Gators football players People from Valdosta, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Saskatchewan Roughriders players Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida