James Walter Kynes Jr. (August 31, 1928 – October 14, 1988) 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,

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, political appointee, and

corporate executive Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

. Kynes served as

Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state and is head of the Florida Department of Legal Affairs. The office is one of Florida's t ...

Early life

Kynes was born in the small town of

Marianna, Florida Marianna is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Florida, United States, and it is home to Chipola College. The population was 6,102 at the 2010 census. In 2018 the estimated population was 7,091. The official nickname of Marianna is ...

, located in the

Florida Panhandle The Florida Panhandle (also West Florida and Northwest Florida) is the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Florida; it is a Salient (geography), salient roughly long and wide, lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia (U. ...

, in 1928. He attended

Marianna High School Marianna High School is a public high school in Marianna, Florida. It enrolls 657 students in grades 9–12, and is the largest of five high schools in the Jackson County School Board. It is accredited by Southern Association of Colleges and Scho ...

, where he was received all-state recognition playing for the Marianna Bulldogs high school football team. Kynes graduated from

Fork Union Military Academy Fork Union Military Academy (abbreviated as FUMA) is a private, all-male, college preparatory military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is considered one of the premier military boarding academies in th ...

Fork Union, Virginia Fork Union is an unincorporated community in southern Fluvanna County, Virginia, along U.S. Highway 15. Its ZIP code is 23055; the population within that ZIP code was 1148 according to the 2000 Census. It is known mainly as the home of Fork Unio ...

, where he received Virginia all-state football honors playing for the Fork Union Blue Devils.

College career

Kynes attended 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 ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Bear Wolf's "Golden Era"

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

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 96, 103, 123, 178, 183 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. Kynes played both offense and defense, and was a third-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) lineman and the Gators' team captain in 1949. Memorably, in 1949, he played a key defensive role in the Gators' 28–7 upset of 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 ( ...

and was the last Gator football player to play every minute of an entire sixty-minute game. He also played for coach Sam J. McAllister's

Florida Gators men's basketball The Florida Gators men's basketball team represents the University of Florida in the sport of basketball. The Gators compete in NCAA Division I's Southeastern Conference (SEC). Home games are played in the O'Connell Center, Exactech Arena at the ...

team from 1946 to 1950. Kynes was an outstanding student and was honored as a member of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal a ...

. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Florida College of Business Administration in 1950, and 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 ...

as a "Gator Great" in 1976. All three of Kynes' sons also played football for the Gators in the 1970s.Jack Hairston, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 43–45 (2002). In a series of articles written for ''

The Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. The paper is published by Lynni Henderson, the paper's Executive Editor is Douglas Ray and the edi ...

'' in 2006, Kynes was ranked as No. 91 of the 100 greatest players in the first 100 years of Florida Gators football.

Personal life

After graduating from the University of Florida, he married Marjorie Hiatt, a graduate of

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...

and a former Seminoles cheerleader.Jay Cridlin,
As mother, wife, she 'selflessly served': Marjorie Hiatt Kynes (1929–2002)
" ''St. Petersburg Times'' (July 26, 2002). Retrieved April 28, 2011.

Professional football

The

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

selected Kynes in the fourteenth round (178th pick overall) of the 1950 NFL Draft. Kynes chose to play center 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

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 a single season in .

Law, politics and business

Kynes returned to the University of Florida in 1952, where he attended the

College of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

and was elected president of

Florida Blue Key Florida Blue Key is a student leadership honor society at the University of Florida which was founded in 1923. History Founding and early years "Florida Blue Key was founded on November 1, 1923, several days prior to the University's Homecom ...

leadership honorary. He graduated with his bachelor of laws degree in 1955. He subsequently served as an officer in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

for two years, before entering private practice in

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 ...

.University of Florida, Office of Undergraduate Affairs, Scholarships
About James W. Kynes (1928–1988)
Retrieved April 28, 2011. Kynes served as

Florida governor The governor of Florida is the head of government of the state of Florida and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws and the power to either approve or veto bills passed by the Florida ...

Farris Bryant Cecil Farris Bryant (July 26, 1914 – March 1, 2002) was an American politician serving as the 34th Governor of Florida. He also served on the United States National Security Council as director of the Office of Emergency Planning during t ...

's executive assistant after Bryant was elected in 1960. In January 1964, Bryant appointed Kynes as the

to succeed

Richard Ervin Richard William Ervin Jr. (born Richard Reehorse Ervin, January 26, 1905 – August 24, 2004) was the Florida Attorney General The Florida attorney general is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves ...

, after Ervin resigned as attorney general to accept an appointment to the

Florida Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Florida is the highest court in the U.S. state of Florida. It consists of seven members: the chief justice and six justices. Six members are chosen from six districts around the state to foster geographic diversity, and one ...

. Kynes stood for a full four-year term in the 1964 Democratic Party primary election in May 1964, but was defeated by 599 votes out of 938,677 cast. Election Results Certified
" ''The Miami News'', p. 1A (May 14, 1964). Retrieved April 29, 2011. and served the remainder of Ervin's term of office through January 1965. After his term as Florida Attorney General expired in January 1965, Kynes moved to

Tampa, Florida Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, 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 ...

to become vice president of the Jim Walter Corporation. He was executive vice president, secretary, and general counsel of its successor companies Hillsborough Holding Corporation and Walter Industries, Inc.

Death and legacy

Kynes died of

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a cancer that develops from the lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a number of subtypes, including gastric adenocarcinomas. Lymph ...

at his home in Tampa in 1988; he was 60 years old. James W. Kynes, Executive, 60
" ''The New York Times'' (October 15, 1988). Retrieved August 1, 2010. He was survived his wife of thirty-eight years, Marjorie Hiatt Kynes, and their three sons. Several friends and classmates initiated the James W. Kynes Award in 1986, which is presented annually to the Florida Gators offensive lineman "who best exemplified the mental and physical toughness and 'iron-man' determination Kynes exhibited as a Gator player." Kynes previously served as the president of the University of Florida National Alumni Association, and he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus. After his death, friends and former teammates endowed a University of Florida scholarship in his name. The university awards the annual $10,000 scholarship to a former Gator student-athlete, who has demonstrated exceptional character and high academic achievement, in order to pursue a graduate or professional degree.

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). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * 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). .

External links

Kynes Scholarship at UF

James W. Kynes Papers
at th
University of South Florida
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kynes, James W. 1928 births 1988 deaths Deaths from stomach cancer Florida Attorneys General Florida Democrats Florida Gators football players Florida Gators men's basketball players Florida lawyers People from Marianna, Florida Saskatchewan Roughriders players Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida Basketball players from Tampa, Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians American men's basketball players Warrington College of Business alumni