Clyde Crabtree (November 3, 1905 – April 21, 1994), nicknamed "Cannonball Crabtree," was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and

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 ...

in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1930. Crabtree played college football 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 thereafter, he played professionally for the

Frankford Yellow Jackets The Frankford Yellow Jackets were a professional American football team, part of the National Football League from 1924 to 1931, although its origin dates back to as early as 1899 with the Frankford Athletic Association. The Yellow Jackets won ...

and

Minneapolis Red Jackets The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1924. The team was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were owned locally by Minneapolitans John Dun ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Crabtree was born in

Altoona, Iowa Altoona is a city in Polk County, Iowa, United States, and is a part of the Des Moines metropolitan area. The population was 19,565 at the 2020 census. Altoona is home of the Adventureland amusement park and Prairie Meadows horse racing track ...

in 1905.Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Clyde Crabtree
Retrieved April 10, 2011. He attended J. Sterling Morton High School in

Cicero, Illinois Cicero (originally known as Hawthorne) is a suburb of Chicago and an incorporated town in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 85,268. making it the 11th largest municipality in Illinois. The town of Cic ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Clyde Crabtree
. Retrieved April 10, 2011. and played for the Morton Mustangs high school football team even though he was relatively short and slight of build.

College career

Crabtree first attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in Evanston, Illinois, but dropped out after deciding that he did not like the social atmosphere of Northwestern.Tom McEwen, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama, pp. 82–103 (1974). After his mother and stepfather moved to Florida, his parents convinced him to enroll in the

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Tom Sebring and coach

Charlie Bachman Charles William Bachman Jr. (December 1, 1892 – December 14, 1985) was an American college football player and head coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played college football. He ser ...

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 o ...

teams from

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith becomes the first Director-General. * January 7 ...

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 180 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. He had the

ambidextrous Ambidexterity is the ability to use both the right and left hand equally well. When referring to objects, the term indicates that the object is equally suitable for right-handed and left-handed people. When referring to humans, it indicates that ...

ability to punt or dropkick the ball off either foot while on the run, or throw a forward pass with either arm. As a collegian, Crabtree was a key backfield contributor for three Gators squads in 1927, 1928 and 1929 which finished 7–3, 8–1 and 8–2, respectively. All three squads ranked among the very best teams produced by the University of Florida through that time, including the great Gator eleven of 1928 whose achievements remained unsurpassed by future Gators football teams through the 1960s, and arguably, through the early 1990s. In 1928, Crabtree was fortunate to have two of the best offensive

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

s in the country as his primary passing targets,

Dutch Stanley Dennis Keith Stanley Sr. (April 14, 1906 – May 29, 1983), nicknamed Dutch Stanley, was an American education professor, university administrator and intercollegiate sports coach. Stanley was a native of England, but graduated from high school i ...

and All-American

Dale Van Sickel Dale Harris Van Sickel (November 29, 1907 – January 25, 1977) was an American college football, basketball and baseball player during the 1920s, who later became a Hollywood motion picture actor and stunt performer for over forty years. ...

, and was supported by the other three talented and speedy backs of the Gators' "Phantom Four" offensive backfield—

Carl Brumbaugh Carl Lowry Brumbaugh (September 22, 1906 – October 24, 1969) was an American college and professional football player who was a quarterback and halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons in the 1930s. Brumbaugh played c ...

Rainey Cawthon Rainey Blackwell Cawthon (October 30, 1907 – April 11, 1991) was an American football player and coach for the Florida Gators of the University of Florida. Cawthon was a member of Florida's "Phantom Four" backfield with Clyde Crabtree, Carl Br ...

and

Royce Goodbread Royce Ethelbert Goodbread (August 23, 1907 – May 19, 1991) was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and wingback in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 1930s. Goodbread play ...

. By the second week, in less than three quarters of play, Crabtree had directed 8 touchdowns. In an era before national polling, the 1928 Gators attracted national newspaper coverage as they outscored their opponents 336–44, leading the nation in scoring during the 1928 season; they finished 8–1, losing their final game to coach

Robert Neyland Robert Reese Neyland (; February 17, 1892 – March 28, 1962) was an American football player and coach and officer in the United States Army, reaching the rank of brigadier general. He served three stints as the head football coach at the Univ ...

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Collegi ...

Knoxville Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state' ...

by a single point, 13–12. In that game,

Buddy Hackman Joseph Sandy "Buddy" Hackman (February 6, 1906 – June 25, 1987) was an American football player and coach of football and basketball. Playing years Hackman was a halfback for the Tennessee Volunteers of the University of Tennessee from 1928 ...

intercepted a lateral from Crabtree to Brumbaugh, who was in the clear had it been executed correctly. As a junior in 1928, Crabtree was first-team All-Southern selection by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

, and received third-team All-American honors from the Associated Press, the

Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...

and

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

. Crabtree's final football game saw a major intersectional victory over the Oregon Webfoots in Miami. He returned a punt 80 yards for a score. Crabtree was also a star forward for the Florida Gators basketball team in 1928 and 1929, 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 1976. As part of an article series written for ''The Gainesville Sun'' in 2006, the ''Sun'' sportswriters chose him as No. 23 among the 100 all-time greatest Gators from the first 100 years of Florida football.

Professional career

Crabtree played professional football for a single season in , playing for the now-defunct

and

of the NFL.National Football League, Historical Players
Clyde Crabtree
Retrieved April 11, 2011. He played in fifteen games, started in seven of them, and was responsible for scoring two touchdowns.

Life after football

Crabtree returned to the University of Florida after his NFL career was over, and graduated with a bachelor's degree in education in 1934. He also earned a master's degree in education in 1951. Crabtree served as a high school sports coach in several of the high schools of

Palm Beach County Palm Beach County is a county located in the southeastern part of Florida and lies directly north of Broward County and Miami-Dade County. The county had a population of 1,492,191 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous county ...

and

Dade County, Florida Miami-Dade County is a county located in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Florida. The county had a population of 2,701,767 as of the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Florida and the seventh-most populous county in ...

, and later, as a school administrator. He died of complications from

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ...

in 1994; he was 88 years old. Clyde Crabtree, high school coach, principal
" ''The Miami Herald'' (April 25, 1994). Retrieved June 20, 2011.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Douchant, Mike, ''Encyclopedia of College Basketball'', Gale Research, New York, New York (1995). . * 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). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Crabtree, Clyde 1905 births 1994 deaths People from Altoona, Iowa People from Cicero, Illinois Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois Players of American football from Illinois American football drop kickers American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Florida Gators football players All-Southern college football players Frankford Yellow Jackets players Minneapolis Red Jackets players Basketball players from Illinois American men's basketball players Florida Gators men's basketball players Coaches of American football from Illinois High school football coaches in Florida