Adrian Van de Graaff explained

Adrian Van de Graaff
Birth Date:6 September 1891
Birth Place:Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Death Place:Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Player Years1:1911–1913
Player Team1:Alabama
Player Years2:1917
Player Team2:Camp Gordon
Player Positions:Halfback
Coach Years1:1919
Coach Team1:Alabama (assistant)
Awards:All-Southern (1912, 1913)

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 of the University of Alabama. After football, he practiced law.

Early years

Adrian was born on September 6, 1891, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, to Adrian Sebastian "Bass" Van de Graaff and Minnie Cherokee Jemison. Adrian, Sr. was a circuit judge who had been a sub on Yale's football team of 1880.[1] Adrian attended Tuscaloosa High School.

University of Alabama

Following in his father's footsteps, Adrian joined the Alabama football team, becoming a prominent member of its 1911 and 1912 teams.[2] At Alabama he was a member of Phi Delta Theta. Adrian's younger brothers Hargrove and William were also prominent football players for Alabama, William being the program's first All-American. Younger still was Adrian's brother Robert J. Van de Graaff, the inventor of the Van de Graaff Generator which produces high voltages.

1912

Adrian was selected All-Southern in 1912 by Nathan Stauffer of Collier's Weekly.[3]

1917

In 1917, Camp Gordon, the second military opponent Alabama faced as the country mobilized for World War I, beat the Tide 19–6. Camp Gordon had several players with college experience, including Adrian.[4]

Law

Adrian was "one of the most brilliant member of the Alabama bar, having an unusual aptitude for legal research."[5]

Notes and References

  1. News: SOUTHERN LIGHTS: Robert Van de Graaff never received his due in Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa News. Ben Windham. November 6, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20130903014526/http://bama.ua.edu/~jharrell/PH106-S06/vandegraaff.htm. September 3, 2013. dead.
  2. Web site: Adrian Sebastian Van de Graaff Jr..
  3. Book: Spalding's Football Guide. 1913. 25, 65.
  4. http://www.rolltide.com/datadump/fls_files/files/football/1910s/1917.pdf 1917 game recaps
  5. News: Adrian Van de Graaff Dies of Heart Attack. The Tuscaloosa News. March 15, 1936.