Lawrence Paul "Lightning" Libertore Jr. (November 18, 1939 – December 25, 2017) 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 and later
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...
, real-estate agent as well as a Florida state legislator.
Early years
Libertore was born on November 18, 1939, in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in and the county seat of Stark County, Ohio. It is located approximately south of Cleveland and south of Akron in Northeast Ohio. The city lies on the edge of Ohio's extensive Amish country, particularly in Holmes and ...
, to Lawrence Paul Libertore Sr. and Jean Maggiore Libertore. He is the eldest of three children. His siblings are Douglas Libertore and Lana Jacobs Swartzwelder.
His family moved to
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, when he was in ninth grade. Libertore played football at
Miami Edison High School
Miami Edison High School is a secondary school located at 6161 NW 5 Ct. in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. Its provost is Leon Maycock.
Miami Edison is an ...
.
[ At Miami Edison High, Libertore was recruited with a football scholarship to attend 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 ...
.
University of Florida
At the University of Florida, Libertore was a Sigma Nu fraternity member.[ On 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, Libertore was an option
Option or Options may refer to:
Computing
*Option key, a key on Apple computer keyboards
*Option type, a polymorphic data type in programming languages
*Command-line option, an optional parameter to a command
*OPTIONS, an HTTP request method
...
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 ...
and defensive back
In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...
. Libertore was a small player at just 138 pounds. As Libertore once recalled, "They always had trouble getting equipment to fit me." In his first game against George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
, he used tape to keep his pants from falling down.[
But he was fast. Libertore's 786 rushing yards remained the most by a Gators quarterback until eclipsed by Tim Tebow in 2007. Libertore was inducted into the University of Florida Athletics Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2005.
Libertore led the Gators to a record 9 wins in ]1960
It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism.
Events
January
* Ja ...
, placing second among the twelve SEC teams—their best-ever SEC finish at that time. In Libertore's first ever game as a sophomore, at Tiger Stadium, Libertore made a criss-crossing 66-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage to help lead the Gators to a 13–10 victory over LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
. The Gators offense stalled after Libertore's run, and the defense stole the LSU quarterback's wristband and studied it at halftime. In the 18–17 upset of Bobby Dodd's tenth-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets is the name used for all of the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), located in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia. The teams have also been nicknamed the Rambl ...
, the Gators, led by Libertore, drop-back passer Bobby Dodd Jr., and running back Lindy Infante
Gelindo "Lindy" Infante (March 27, 1940 – October 8, 2015) was an American football player and coach, who became an offensive coordinator and head coach in both the National Football League (NFL) and the United States Football League (USFL). ...
, gambled on a successful two-point conversion for the last-minute win.[ A pass from Libertore to fullback Jon MacBeth won the game.][ Libertore also led the Gators to a win over Fran Tarkenton and 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 ( ...
.[ The season closed with a hard-fought 13–12 victory over the twelfth-ranked ]Baylor Bears
The Baylor Bears are the athletic teams that represent Baylor University. The teams participate in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as one of only two private school members of the Big 12 Conference. Prior to j ...
in the Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game held in Jacksonville, Florida, operated by Gator Bowl Sports. It has been held continuously since 1946, making it the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised natio ...
on New Year's Eve
In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...
1960. Baylor dropped a pass for the two-point conversion and the win. Libertore was the game's MVP.
In 1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
, Libertore hurt his knee in a loss to Georgia Tech, and did not play quarterback again. Libertore helped the Gators to defeat Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
alongside Larry Dupree in the 1962 Gator Bowl from the halfback position.
Political career
Libertore served in the Florida House of Representatives
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...
from 1970 to 1974 from District 51. He was a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
. He served as a County Commissioner of Polk County from 1984 to 1992 and served as chairman of the county commission.
Personal life
After graduating from the University of Florida, Libertore moved to Lakeland, Florida where he received his real estate license. He married Marla Deniece Jones[ ] and had three children: Lisa, Christy, and Larry III.[
Libertore died on December 25, 2017, in ]Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...
, at the age of 78, following a brief illness.Political leader, developer, Gator QB Libertore dies at 78
/ref>
See also
* List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members
References
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Libertore, Larry
1939 births
2017 deaths
Players of American football from Canton, Ohio
Players of American football from Miami
Sportspeople from Lakeland, Florida
American football quarterbacks
Florida Gators football players
American football halfbacks
Politicians from Canton, Ohio
Politicians from Miami
American football defensive backs
Businesspeople from Florida
Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives
County commissioners in Florida
American athlete-politicians
20th-century American businesspeople