Royce Ethelbert Goodbread (August 23, 1907 – May 19, 1991) 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 halfback and wingback in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 1930s. Goodbread 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 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 ...

, the

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 ...

and the

Providence Steam Roller The Providence Steam Rollers (also referred to as the Providence Steam Roller, the Providence Steamroller and the Providence Steamrollers) were a professional American football team based in Providence, Rhode Island in the National Football Leagu ...

of the NFL.

Early years

Goodbread was born in

Crystal River, Florida Crystal River is a city in Citrus County, Florida, United States. The population was 3,108 in the 2010 census. According to the U.S. Census estimates of 2018, the city had a population of 3,162. The city was incorporated in 1903 and is the self p ...

in 1907,Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Royce Goodbread
Retrieved April 20, 2011. and attended St. Petersburg High School in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the fifth-most populous city in Florida and the second-largest city in the Tampa Bay Area, after Tampa. It is the ...

,databaseFootball.com, Players
Royce Goodbread
. Retrieved April 20, 2011. and he played for the St. Petersburg Green Devils high school football team. In 1925 he accounted for 189 points, and led his team to a win over rival Hillsborough High School.

College career

After graduating from high school, Goodbread attended 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 American football, football player and head coach. Bachman was an Illinois native and an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame, where he played colleg ...

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 ...

teams from 1927 to

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, pp. 104 & 181 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. In Goodbread's three seasons as a member of the Gators varsity, the team posted win–loss records of 7–3, 8–1 and 8–2—a three-year peak for the Gators which they would not equal or exceed for over six decades. Goodbread was a key member of the Gators' "Phantom Four" offensive backfield that included

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

Clyde Crabtree 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 in the National Football League (NFL) for a single season in 1930 ...

, when the 1928 Gators led the country with 336 points scored and finished 8–1, losing only to the

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

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's ...

by a single point, 13–12.Tom McEwen, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama, pp. 86–103 (1974). Goodbread graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1930.

Professional career

During the NFL season, Goodbread played in thirteen games for the

and one game for the

,National Football League, Historical Players
Royce Goodbread
Retrieved April 20, 2011. and starting in a total of ten of them. In the following season, he played in four games for the

and started in two of them. Goodbread was an insurance agent in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He died on May 19, 1991; he was 83 years old.

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). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodbread, Royce 1907 births 1991 deaths American football halfbacks American football quarterbacks Florida Gators football players Frankford Yellow Jackets players Minneapolis Red Jackets players People from Crystal River, Florida Players of American football from Florida Providence Steam Roller players

Early years

College career

Professional career

See also

References

Bibliography