Adrian Van Vinceler Van de Graaff (September 6, 1891 – March 14, 1936) was an American college football player and coach. He played halfback for the

Alabama Crimson Tide football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

of the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

. After football, he practiced law.

Early years

Adrian was born on September 6, 1891, in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of ...

, to Adrian Sebastian "Bass" Van de Graaff and Minnie Cherokee Jemison. Adrian, Sr. was a circuit judge who had been a sub on

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

's football team of

1880 Events January–March * January 22 – Toowong State School is founded in Queensland, Australia. * January – The international White slave trade affair scandal in Brussels is exposed and attracts international infamy. * February � ...

. Adrian attended

Tuscaloosa High School Central High School is a high school in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, enrolling grades 9 to 12. The school enrolls approximately 700 students, and is one of three traditional high schools in the Tuscaloosa City School District along with ...

University of Alabama

Following in his father's footsteps, Adrian joined the

Alabama football The Alabama Crimson Tide football program represents the University of Alabama (variously Alabama, UA, or Bama) in the sport of American football. The team competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Asso ...

team, becoming a prominent member of its

1911 A notable ongoing event was the race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory are added to the Commonwealth of Australia. * Ja ...

and 1912 teams. At Alabama he was a member of

Phi Delta Theta Phi Delta Theta (), commonly known as Phi Delt, is an international secret and social fraternity founded at Miami University in 1848 and headquartered in Oxford, Ohio. Phi Delta Theta, along with Beta Theta Pi and Sigma Chi form the Miami Tria ...

. Adrian's younger brothers Hargrove and

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

were also prominent football players for Alabama, William being the program's first

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n. Younger still was Adrian's brother Robert J. Van de Graaff, the inventor of the

Van de Graaff Generator A Van de Graaff generator is an electrostatic generator which uses a moving belt to accumulate electric charge on a hollow metal globe on the top of an insulated column, creating very high electric potentials. It produces very high voltage dire ...

which produces high

voltage Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge t ...

1912

Adrian was selected All-Southern in

1912 Events January * January 1 – The Republic of China is established. * January 5 – The Prague Conference (6th All-Russian Conference of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party) opens. * January 6 ** German geophysicist Alfred ...

Nathan Stauffer Nathan Pennypacker Stauffer (January 1, 1875 – June 5, 1959) was an American college football player and coach and physician. He served as the head football coach at Dickinson College from 1896 to 1899, at Pennsylvania Military College—now kno ...

of ''

Collier's Weekly ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Coll ...

''.

1917

In 1917,

Camp Gordon Fort Gordon, formerly known as Camp Gordon, is a United States Army installation established in October 1941. It is the current home of the United States Army Signal Corps, United States Army Cyber Command, and the Cyber Center of Excellence. It ...

, the second military opponent Alabama faced as the country mobilized for

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, beat the Tide 19–6. Camp Gordon had several players with college experience, including Adrian.

Law

Adrian was "one of the most brilliant member of the Alabama bar, having an unusual aptitude for legal research."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van de Graaff, Adrian 1891 births 1936 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football halfbacks Alabama Crimson Tide football players Camp Gordon football players All-Southern college football players Alabama lawyers Sportspeople from Tuscaloosa, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American people of Dutch descent