Clyde Crabtree Clyde Crabtree ( November 3 , 1905 – April 21 , 1994 ) , nicknamed " Cannonball Crabtree , " was an American college and professional football player who was a halfback and quarterback in the National Football League ( NFL ) for a single season in 1930 . Crabtree played college football for the University of Florida , and thereafter , he played professionally for the Frankford Yellow Jackets and Minneapolis Red Jackets of the NFL . Early years . Crabtree was born in Altoona , Iowa in 1905 . He attended J . Sterling Morton High School , and played for the Morton Mustangs high school football team even though he was relatively short and slight of build . College career . Crabtree first attended Northwestern University in Evanston , Illinois , but dropped out after deciding that he did not like the social atmosphere of Northwestern . After his mother and stepfather moved to Florida , his parents convinced him to enroll in 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 . He was a gifted athlete , and had the ambidextrous ability to punt or dropkick the ball off either foot while on the run , or throw a forward pass with either arm . As a collegian , Crabtree was a key backfield contributor for three Gators squads in 1927 , 1928 and 1929 that finished 7 – 3 , 8 – 1 and 8 – 2 , respectively . All three squads ranked among the very best teams produced by the University of Florida through that time , including the great Gator eleven of 1928 whose achievements remained unsurpassed by future Gators football teams through the 1960s , and arguably , through the early 1990s . In 1928 , Crabtree was fortunate to have two of the best offensive end s in the country as his primary passing targets , Dutch Stanley and All - American Dale Van Sickel , and was supported by the other three talented and speedy backs of the Gators ' " Phantom Four " offensive backfield — Carl Brumbaugh , Rainey Cawthon and Royce Goodbread . In an era before national polling , the 1928 Gators attracted national newspaper coverage as they outscored their opponents 336 – 44 , setting a new national record for points scored in a season ; they finished 8 – 1 , losing their final game to coach Robert Neyland ' s Tennessee Volunteers in Knoxville by a single point , 13 – 12 . As a junior in 1928 , Crabtree received third - team All - American honors from the Associated Press , the Newspaper Enterprise Association and United Press . Crabtree was also a star forward for the Florida Gators basketball team in 1928 and 1929 , and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 1976 . Professional career . Crabtree played professional football for a single season in , playing for the now - defunct Frankford Yellow Jackets and Minneapolis Red Jackets of the NFL . He played in fifteen games , started in seven of them , and was responsible for scoring two touchdowns . Life after football . Crabtree returned to the University of Florida after his NFL career was over , and graduated with a bachelor ' s degree in education in 1934 . He also earned a master ' s degree in education in 1951 . Crabtree served as a high school sports coach in several of the high schools of Palm Beach County and Dade County , Florida , and later , as a school administrator . He died of complications from diabetes in 1994 ; he was 88 years old .