Royce Goodbread

Royce Ethelbert Goodbread (August 23, 1907 – May 19, 1991) was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and wingback in the National Football League (NFL) for two seasons during the early 1930s. Goodbread played college football for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Frankford Yellow Jackets, the Minneapolis Red Jackets and the Providence Steam Roller of the NFL.

Royce Goodbread

No. 42
Position:	Halfback, wingback, fullback
Personal information
Born:	(1907-08-23)August 23, 1907 Crystal River, Florida
Died:	May 19, 1991(1991-05-19) (aged 83) Dallas, Texas
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High school:	St. Petersburg (FL)
College:	Florida
Career history
Frankford Yellow Jackets (1930) Minneapolis Red Jackets (1930) Providence Steam Roller (1931)
Career highlights and awards
Honorable mention All-Southern (1928)
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 18 Games started: 14 Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

Early years

Goodbread was born in Crystal River, Florida in 1907,[1] and attended St. Petersburg High School in St. Petersburg, Florida,[2] and he played for the St. Petersburg Green Devils high school football team. In 1925 he accounted for 189 points,[3] and led his team to a win over rival Hillsborough High School.[4]

College career

After graduating from high school, Goodbread attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Tom Sebring and coach Charlie Bachman's Florida Gators football teams from 1927 to 1929.[5] 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, Rainey Cawthon and Clyde Crabtree, when the 1928 Gators led the country with 336 points scored and finished 8–1, losing only to the Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville by a single point, 13–12.[6][7]

Goodbread graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1930.

Professional career

During the 1930 NFL season, Goodbread played in thirteen games for the Frankford Yellow Jackets and one game for the Minneapolis Red Jackets,[8] and starting in a total of ten of them.[1] In the following 1931 season, he played in four games for the Providence Steam Roller and started in two of them.[1]

Goodbread was an insurance agent in Dallas, Texas.[9] He died on May 19, 1991; he was 83 years old.

See also

• Florida Gators football, 1920–29
• List of University of Florida alumni

References

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Royce Goodbread. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
2. databaseFootball.com, Players, Royce Goodbread Archived November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
3. Frank S. Wright (September 29, 1929). "Goodbread Is One Of Gators' Chief Threats". St. Petersburg Times.
4. Jeff Moshier (November 1, 1923). "Terriers And Green Devils Grid Rivals For Past 17 Years". The Evening Independent.
5. 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 104 & 181 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011.
6. "Florida Gets Good At Gridiron Sport," The Pittsburgh Press (December 4, 1928). Retrieved January 19, 2013.
7. Tom McEwen, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama, pp. 86–103 (1974).
8. National Football League, Historical Players, Royce Goodbread. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
9. "Quotable Quotes". The Evening Independent. November 16, 1967.

Bibliography

• Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
• Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
• Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
• McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
• McEwen, Tom, The Gators: A Story of Florida Football, The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). ISBN 0-87397-025-X.
• Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.