Jewel Rex Farrior Sr. (October 5, 1896 – January 17, 1993) was an American

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 ...

and

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 ...

player and coach for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

of 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 ...

, as well as a lawyer. He became a founding partner in a prominent

Tampa 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 ...

-based law firm, and remained one of the biggest boosters of the Gators sports program until his death.

Early years

Farrior was born October 5, 1896, in

Chipley, Florida Chipley is a city in and the county seat of Washington County, Florida, United States, located between Tallahassee, Florida, Tallahassee and Pensacola, Florida, Pensacola. Its population was 3,660 in the 2020 census, up from 3,605 at the 2010 ce ...

, to Joseph R. Farrior and Gussie Brown. His father was a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

. Farrior attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa, where he played football and baseball, graduating in 1913. Future Gator teammate Rammy Ramsdell was in the same class.

University of Florida

Farrior is the namesake of Farrior Hall on the UF campus.

Football

Farrior was a prominent

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 ...

and

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

for the

Florida Gators football The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida (UF) in American football, American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the ...

team from

1913 Events January * January – Joseph Stalin travels to Vienna to research his ''Marxism and the National Question''. This means that, during this month, Stalin, Hitler, Trotsky and Tito are all living in the city. * January 3 &ndash ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

. His first ever game was the 144–0 victory over the

Florida Southern Moccasins The Florida Southern Moccasins (also shortened to Florida Southern Mocs) are the athletic teams that represent Florida Southern College, located in Lakeland, Florida, in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports. The Moccasins compete as members of ...

. Farrior 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 football team in his senior year. In that season the Gators lost all their games, suffering multiple injures and transfers, requiring Farrior to shift to fullback. He broke his ankle that year in the

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

game. A member of the fraternity

Kappa Alpha Order Kappa Alpha Order (), commonly known as Kappa Alpha, KA, or simply The Order, is an American social fraternity founded in 1865 at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia. Along with Alpha Tau Omega and Sigma Nu, the order constitu ...

at UF, the ''Kappa Alpha Journal'' reads "J. Rex Farrior of the University of Florida has been for several seasons the 'Gators most brilliant performer." 1920 Gainesville High football team

He was nominated though not selected for an ''Associated Press'' All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team. As a football player, he was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame. The "Rex Farrior Award" was once given to the most "team-oriented" player. Originally the award was given to the

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line (D ...

who showed the most effort.

Return to UF and coaching

Farrior to Florida in 1921 after serving in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

to earn his law degree, graduating in 1924.

Gainesville High

From 1920 to 1922, Farrior coached the Gainesville High School Purple Hurricane football team. The 1922 team was his best and won a state title. Athletes who played for him include

Jack McDowall John Witherspoon McDowall (June 26, 1905 – May 25, 1969), known as "Spindle Legs", was an American football, baseball, basketball player and track and field, track athlete at North Carolina State University. McDowall was recognized as an Coll ...

, Lamar Sarra, and Goof Bowyer.

Florida

Farrior coached the 1924 baseball team. In his one-season the team posted a 5–14 record.

Cigar Bowl

Farrior was chairman of the selection committee for the

Cigar Bowl The Cigar Bowl was a post-season college football bowl game held in Tampa, Florida that featured teams from smaller college programs. There were nine editions of the bowl, which was usually played on or around New Year's Day each season from 1946 ...

Law practice

Farrior became a partner in Shackleford and Farrior, which evolved into one of Tampa's largest law firms. Law partner Bob Shackleford was a former Florida Gator quarterback. Farrior was elected president of

the Florida Bar The Florida Bar is the integrated, or unified bar organization for the state of Florida. It is the third largest such bar in the United States.

in 1975.The Florida Bar, History
List of Past Presidents
. Retrieved July 7, 2015.

References

External links

Interview with J. Rex Farrior, Sr. (September 6, 1980)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrior, J. Rex 1896 births 1993 deaths 20th-century American lawyers American football centers American football guards American football fullbacks Florida Gators baseball coaches Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football coaches Florida Gators football players High school football coaches in Florida People from Chipley, Florida Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Baseball players from Tampa, Florida Florida lawyers