Earle Taylor

Earle Abbott "Dummy" Taylor (February 2, 1891 – September 10, 1955)[1] was a college football player and oil company distributor.[2] He was one of the first star athletes for the Florida Gators football team.

For the American baseball pitcher also nicknamed "Dummy", see Luther Taylor.

Earle Taylor
Florida Gators
PositionHalfback/Kicker
Personal information
Born:(1891-02-02)February 2, 1891
Ashland, Kansas
Died:September 10, 1955(1955-09-10) (aged 64)
Gainesville, Florida
Weight165 lb (75 kg)
Career history
CollegeFlorida (1908–1912)
Bowl gamesBacardi Bowl (1912)
Career highlights and awards

Early years

Taylor was born in Ashland, Kansas, in 1891.[3] By age nine, he had moved with his family to Gainesville, Florida. His father, Herbert Taylor, was employed as a bank cashier.[4]

University of Florida

Taylor played at the right halfback position for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida from 1908 to 1912;[5][6] the only UF player to earn five football letters.[7][8] Some describe him as the school's first star athlete.[9] Taylor was described by contemporaneous newspaper accounts as a legendary broken field runner and a master of the hidden ball trick, who could drop-kick field goals "at seemingly impossible angles and distance."[5] He is a member of the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame.[10]

He was nominated though not selected for an Associated Press All-Time Southeast 1869-1919 era team.[11] Taylor was picked as a halfback for an All-Time Florida Gators football team in 1927.[12] In 1937, Lewis H. Tribble, dean of Stetson University, declared Taylor the greatest running back who ever played in the state of Florida.[13]

1908 to 1910

In his first season of 1908, Taylor's extra point decided the win over Stetson, after a Charlie Bartleson touchdown run.[14][15] Taylor kicked three field goals to beat the Jacksonville Olympics in 1909.[16] He was captain of the 1910 team which suffered its only loss to Mercer.

1911

Taylor featured on the undefeated 1911 team captained by Neal Storter. The team tied the South Carolina Gamecocks, defeated The Citadel Bulldogs, Clemson[17] and the College of Charleston, declared themselves to be the "champions of South Carolina,"[18] and finished their season 5–0–1—still the only undefeated football season in the Gators' history. Of the 84 points scored by Florida in 1911, Taylor scored 49: 25 points on the ground and points-after and 24 on field goals. He also threw two touchdown passes.[5] His 8 field goals were a then school record,[9] standing until 1974.[19]

Taylor scored in the tie with South Carolina.[20] and against Clemson he picked up a fumble and ran 45 yards for a touchdown, and then kicked the extra point to win.[21] He kicked three field goals to beat Columbia College of Lake City 9–0.[22]

"It was on the South Carolina trip that the Florida team was dubbed the ‘Alligators,’ and the battle that took place . . .between the Clemson Tigers and the Florida Alligators is one long to be remembered!" declared the Florida Pennant.

1912

He closed his career on the 1912 team which played in the Bacardi Bowl. Earlier in the season, the Gators got their first ever win over South Carolina. Taylor made a field goal.[23] After Taylor missed a drop kick, Carolina fumbled, and Florida's Hoyle Pounds recovered for a touchdown.[24] The 23–7 defeat of Stetson was considered Dummy Taylor's greatest game.[25]

Later years

Taylor continued to reside in Gainesville, Florida. As of June 1917, he was employed as a master mechanic for the Florida Industrial Corporation in Gainesville.[3] In 1920, he was living in Gainesville and employed as an engineer.[26] In 1930, he was living in Gainesville with his wife, Leonilla and their six-year-old son, Earl, Jr., and he was employed as a wholesale dealer in gas and oil.[27] In 1940, he remained Gainesville with his wife and son and was employed as a consignee for the Texas Oil Company.[28] He died in Gainesville in 1955 after suffering a heart attack at age 64.[2][29]

See also

References
  1. "FamilySearch: Sign In".
  2. "Dummy Taylor Dies at Gainesville Home". Ocala Star Banner. September 12, 1955. p. 6.
  3. Draft Registration Card for Earle Abbott Taylor, born February 2, 1891, Ashland, Kansas. Ancestry.com. U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line]. Registration State: Florida; Registration County: Alachua; Roll: 1556849
  4. Census entry for Herbert Taylor and family. Son Earle A. Taylor, born Feb. 1891 in Kansas. Son Herbert S. Taylor, born 1887 in Kansas. Wife Mary born in Virginia. Census Place: Gainesville, Alachua, Florida; Roll: 165; Page: 6A; Enumeration District: 0007; FHL microfilm: 1240165. Ancestry.com. 1900 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
  5. "Florida Gators History". Archived from the original on January 2, 2006. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  6. "Changing Faces of UF Football". Archived from the original on April 17, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  7. Steve Rajtar (July 21, 2014). Gone Pro: Florida Gators Athletes Who Became Pros. p. 26. ISBN 9781578605439.
  8. Antonya English. "100 Things about 100 years of Gator football".
  9. The Times-Union (September 1, 2006). "10 top 10 lists". Archived from the original on April 10, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  10. Pat Dooley (April 4, 1997). Bell of the ball: Kerwin joins UF hall. ISBN 9781571671967.
  11. "U-T Greats On All-Time Southeast Team". Kingsport Post. July 31, 1969.
  12. "Writer Picks All-Time Gator Eleven, Going Back 10 Years To Name Taylor And Storter". The Evening Independent. October 14, 1927. p. 5A.
  13. "Dummy Taylor Rated State's No 1. Gridman". The Tampa Tribune. November 30, 1937. p. 13. Retrieved November 7, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  14. McEwen 1974, p. 42
  15. "U. of F. Victorious". Stetson Weekly Collegiate. Vol. 21, no. 6. November 12, 1908.
  16. "On this date in Gators history: October 23, 1909". October 23, 2012.
  17. "Alumni News". The Florida Alligator. November 12, 1922. p. 2.
  18. MIKE McCALL, Alligator Staff Writer (September 4, 2009). "Worth Repeating: Gators hope to reprise title run". The Independent Florida Alligator.
  19. "Gators Break Records". Ocala Star-Banner. December 6, 1974.
  20. "1911". web.uflib.ufl.edu.
  21. "Florida-Clemson game". The Tiger. 7 (3): 2. October 28, 1911.
  22. "Times Daily - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com.
  23. "On this date in Gators History: Oct 19, 1912". October 19, 2012.
  24. McEwen 1974, p. 47
  25. McEwen 1974, p. 48
  26. Census entry for E. A. Taylor, age 29, born in Kansas. Census Place: Gainesville, Alachua, Florida; Roll: T625_214; Page: 42A; Enumeration District: 10; Image: 312. Ancestry.com. 1920 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
  27. Census entry for Earle A. Taylor, age 39, born in Kansas. Census Place: Gainesville, Alachua, Florida; Roll: 306; Page: 11B; Enumeration District: 0014; Image: 314.0; FHL microfilm: 2340041. Ancestry.com. 1930 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
  28. Census entry for Earle Taylor, age 49, born in Kansas. Census Place: Gainesville, Alachua, Florida; Roll: T627_573; Page: 1A; Enumeration District: 1-7. Ancestry.com. 1940 United States Federal Census [database on-line].
  29. "Heart Attack Kills Former Gator Star". The News Tribune. September 12, 1955. p. 5. Retrieved January 28, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. open access

Bibliography
  • McEwen, Tom (1974). The Gators: A Story of Florida Football. Huntsville, Alabama: The Strode Publishers. ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
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