Jimmy DuBose Jimmy DeWayne DuBose ( born October 25 , 1954 ) is a former American college and professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League ( NFL ) for three seasons during the 1970s . DuBose played college football for the University of Florida , and thereafter , he played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL . Early life . DuBose was born in Enterprise , Alabama in 1954 . He attended Sarasota High School in Sarasota , Florida , and he was a standout high school football player for the Sarasota Sailors , rushing for 1 , 400 yards and sixteen touchdown s as a senior . College career . DuBose received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played fullback for coach Doug Dickey ' s Florida Gators football team from 1972 to 1975 . Dickey described him as a " picture perfect fullback , " able to run over people like a fullback but also able to run like a halfback in the open field . Memorably , DuBose ran for 180 yards against the Vanderbilt Commodores , including an eighty - yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage , and rushed for 204 yards versus the Florida State Seminoles as a senior . Averaging nearly seven yards per carry , he led the Gators to a 9 – 2 record , the first time the Gators had achieved nine regular - season wins . DuBose ' s 2 , 159 career rushing yards are , as of 2009 , the tenth - best in Gators team history ; his senior - year effort of 1 , 307 yards remains the Gators ' third - best season total ( following two of Emmitt Smith ' s seasons ) . As a senior team captain in 1975 , he rushed for 1 , 402 yards and six touchdowns on 209 carries , and was recognized as a first - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) selection , the SEC Player of the Year , and a second - team All - American ; he also finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting . DuBose was the recipient of the Gators ' Fergie Ferguson Award recognizing the " senior football player who displayed outstanding leadership , character and courage . " He graduated from Florida with a bachelor ' s degree in public relations in 1980 , and was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 1987 . Professional career . DuBose was selected by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round ( thirtieth pick overall ) of the 1976 NFL Draft , following the Buccaneers ' first - round pick , Leroy Selmon , and became part of the inaugural Buccaneers line - up . Hobbled by an injured ankle in his rookie season in , he had trouble learning the Bucs system . Playing with a year ' s experience behind an improved line , he was the Bucs ' most consistent runner in the preseason , earning the praise of Buccaneers offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs . In , he became the Buccaneers ' first - ever running back to gain 100 yards in a game . Unfortunately , only four plays after achieving this milestone , he tore knee ligaments while tackling New York Giants linebacker Harry Carson after an interception , an injury that benched him for the entire season . He never regained his pre - injury form , and was traded to the Miami Dolphins in , along with a second - round draft pick for running back Gary Davis and cornerback Norris Thomas . Miami coach Don Shula cut DuBose from the squad , feeling that he would , at 205 pounds , be too small to replace Larry Csonka . In his three - season NFL career , DuBose appeared in thirty - three games , started fifteen of them , and rushed for 704 yards and four touchdowns on 184 attempts . He also compiled seventeen receptions for 118 yards yards . Life after football . DuBose is married , and he and his wife have a son and a daughter . They both work in education .