Douglas Ray Belden (April 24, 1927 – July 8, 1972) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

who played 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 19 ...

of the

Western Interprovincial Football Union The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. With a few exceptions, a senior men's football championship has been contested in Western Canada since 1911 ...

(WIFU). He participated in

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

, and track at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

, where he was the last four-sport

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in school history. In 1949, Belden was named a WIFU second-team All-Star while leading the Roughriders to an appearance in the WIFU finals. After retiring from football to take a job with a liquor company, he returned to the Roughriders in 1952. At one time, he was also the youngest city councilman in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa'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 t ...

history at 26 years old. Belden was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 1969.

Early life

Douglas Ray Belden was born on April 24, 1927, in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

. He attended

Henry B. Plant High School H.B. Plant High School is a public high school located in the neighborhood of South Tampa in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1927 between South Himes Avenue on the east and Dale Mabry Highway on the west. The school is named after ra ...

. For most of his junior high and high school career, Belden was small at 5'9" and 130 pounds. After school hours, he served as

waterboy In the United States, a water boy or water girl (sometimes spelled waterboy or watergirl) was someone who worked in the field, providing water to farmworkers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Today, the name is given to those who work on the ...

for the

University of Tampa The University of Tampa (UTampa, UT or Tampa U) is a private university in Tampa, Florida. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. UTampa offers more than 200 programs of study, including 19 master's degrees and a br ...

football team and assistant manager for the university's

team. He was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the Plant High basketball team. Belden also "got into just enough games" to earn a

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech or none in the case of a silent letter; any of the symbols of an alphabet * Letterform, the g ...

in football his senior year.

College career

In 1944, Belden enrolled at the

Gainesville, Florida Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, United States, and the most populous city in North Central Florida, with a population of 145,212 in 2022. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gainesv ...

. He played varsity basketball during the 1944–45 season as a 17-year old freshman. He was second on the team with 160 points. In March 1945, Belden was elected captain of the basketball team for the 1944–45 season, becoming the first freshman in school history to be a varsity captain in any sport. University of Florida policy dictated that sport team captains were only chosen after the end of each season. At 5'10" and 145 pounds, he also made the varsity football team his freshman year but "just barely." Beginning in 1945, he served 18 months in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and saw action in the Pacific Theatre. Upon returning from the war in 1946, he had grown to over 6' tall and weighed 190 pounds. He was a tailback during the 1946 football season, splitting time throwing the ball with

Billy Parker, as the Gators finished 0–9. Belden was the starting quarterback from 1947 to 1948. He led the Gators to a 4–5–1 record in 1947. As a senior captain in 1948, Belden completed 48 of 115 passes for 624 yards while also throwing ten interceptions as Florida went 5–5. He set a since-broken school record for single game completions with 14 on November 13, 1948, against the

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

. Belden earned honorable mention All-South honors for the 1948 season. Belden also participated in

and track for the Gators. Belden was a

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown as far as possible. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's de ...

er on the track team, and was the last four-sport letterman in University of Florida history. He played in six games as a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

during the 1947–48 basketball season, and averaged 1.8 points per game. In 1949, he was inducted into the University of Florida Hall of Fame, which is "reserved for those students who have shown truly superior leadership and achievement through their activities and scholarship while members of the University of Florida community." He graduated in June 1949. Belden was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1969.F Club, Hall of Fame
Gator Greats
Retrieved December 13, 2014.

Professional career

On December 19, 1947, Belden was selected by the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

in the 27th round, with the 255th overall pick, of the

1948 NFL draft The 1948 NFL draft was held on December 19, 1947, at the Fort Pitt Hotel in Pittsburgh. This was the second year that the first overall pick was a bonus pick determined by lottery, with the previous year's winner Chicago Bears ineligible from t ...

. However, he never signed with the Cardinals. He instead signed with the

of the

(WIFU) on April 30, 1949. Belden was listed as a quarterback/ halfback in 1949. He dressed in all 14 games, starting nine, while scoring four passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown as the Roughriders finished the season with a 9–5 record. He was named a WIFU second-team All-Star at quarterback for his performance during the 1949 season. Saskatchewan faced the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

in the 1949 WIFU finals, losing game one 18–12 but winning game two 9–4. The Stampeders advanced to the

37th Grey Cup The 37th Grey Cup was played on November 26, 1949, before 20,087 fans at Varsity Stadium at Toronto. Montreal Alouettes defeated Calgary Stampeders 28–15. Though teams from Montreal had won two Grey Cups, this was the first appearance and victor ...

due to winning the point margin 22–21. Belden re-signed with the Roughriders shortly after the 1949 season. However a few weeks later, he retired from football to take a job with a liquor company. Belden later re-signed with the Roughriders in May 1952. He was listed as a quarterback/

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 ...

in 1952. On October 4 against the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

, he suffered torn cartilage in his right knee and missed the final four games of the season. He dressed in 12 games, starting three, overall during the 1952 season, recording 30 completions on 78 passing attempts (38.5%) for 470 yards, five touchdowns, and five interceptions, one rushing touchdown, four kickoff returns for 73 yards, three interceptions on defense, and two fumble recoveries as Saskatchewan finished 3–13.

Personal life

Belden was an official for high school and college football games. He also played in the Tampa City Basketball League. At one time, he was the youngest city councilman in Tampa history at 26 years old. Belden suffered an aneurysm on June 20, 1972, while playing

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...

. He then went into a coma and died on July 8, 1972, in Tampa. He was the vice president of Bay Distributors at the time of his death.

References

External links