Jewel Rex Farrior Sr. (October 5, 1896 – January 17, 1993) 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 ...

and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

player and coach for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni and its sports fans are often collectively referred to as t ...

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 ...

, as well as a lawyer. He became a founding partner in a prominent

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough County ...

-based law firm, and remained one of the biggest boosters of the Gators sports program until his death.

Early years

Farrior was born October 5, 1896, in

Chipley, Florida Chipley is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Florida, Washington County, Florida, United States, located between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola. Its population was 3,605 in the 2010 U.S. Census ...

, to Joseph R. Farrior and Gussie Brown. His father was a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. Farrior attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa, where he played football and baseball, graduating in 1913. Future Gator teammate Rammy Ramsdell was in the same class.

University of Florida

Farrior is the namesake of Farrior Hall on the UF campus.

Football

Farrior was a prominent

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

for the

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

1913 Events January * January 5 – First Balkan War: Battle of Lemnos (1913), Battle of Lemnos – Greek admiral Pavlos Kountouriotis forces the Turkish fleet to retreat to its base within the Dardanelles, from which it will not ven ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

. His first ever game was the 144–0 victory over the

Florida Southern Moccasins The Florida Southern Moccasins (also shortened to Florida Southern Mocs) are the athletic teams that represent Florida Southern College, located in Lakeland, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Moccasins compete as members of ...

. Farrior 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 football team in his senior year. In that season the Gators lost all their games, suffering multiple injures and transfers, requiring Farrior to shift to

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. He broke his ankle that year in the

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

game. A member of the Kappa Alpha fraternity at UF, the ''Kappa Alpha Journal'' reads "J. Rex Farrior of the University of Florida has been for several seasons the 'Gators most brilliant performer." 1920 Gainesville High football team

He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team. As a football player, he was 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 ...

. The "Rex Farrior Award" was once given to the most "team-oriented" player. Originally the award was given to the

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

who showed the most effort.

Return to UF and coaching

Farrior to Florida in 1921 after serving in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to earn his law degree, graduating in 1924.

Gainesville High

From 1920 to 1922, Farrior coached the Gainesville High School Purple Hurricane football team. The 1922 team was his best and won a state title. Athletes who played for him include

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

Lamar Sarra Ernest Lamar Sarra (September 11, 1904 – May 24, 1995) was an American football and basketball player and coach. Sarra was a prominent center for coach Tom Sebring's Florida Gators football team, captain of the 1926 team. He was a three-year ...

, and

Goof Bowyer Ernest J. "Goof" Bowyer (October 2, 1903 – May 19, 1988) was an American football and basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at Florida Southern College from 1931 to 1932. Early years Bowyer ...

Florida

Farrior coached the 1924 baseball team. In his one-season the team posted a 5–14 record.

Cigar Bowl

Farrior was chairman of the selection committee for the

Cigar Bowl The Cigar Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held in Tampa, Florida, featuring small college teams. The nine editions of the bowl were held from January 1947 (following the 1946 season) through December 1954 (following the 1954 se ...

Law practice

Farrior became a partner in Shackleford and Farrior, which evolved into one of Tampa's largest law firms. Law partner Bob Shackleford was a former Florida Gator quarterback. Farrior was elected president of

the Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated bar association for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States. Its duties include the regulation and discipline of attorneys. The Florida Bar is also responsible for the governi ...

in 1975.The Florida Bar, History
List of Past Presidents
Retrieved July 7, 2015.

References

External links

Interview with J. Rex Farrior, Sr. (September 6, 1980)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrior, J. Rex 1896 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football centers American football guards American football fullbacks Florida Gators baseball coaches Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football coaches Florida Gators football players High school football coaches in Florida People from Chipley, Florida Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Baseball players from Tampa, Florida Florida lawyers