James W . Kynes James Walter Kynes , Jr . ( August 31 , 1928 – October 14 , 1988 ) , nicknamed Jimmy Kynes , was an American college and professional football player , lawyer , political appointee and corporate executive . Kynes also served as the Florida Attorney General . Early life . Kynes was born in the small town of Marianna , Florida , located in the Florida Panhandle , in 1928 . He attended Marianna High School , where he was received all - state recognition playing for the Marianna Bulldogs high school football team . Kynes graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union , Virginia , where he received Virginia all - state football honors playing for the Fork Union Blue Devils . College career . Kynes attended the University of Florida in Gainesville , Florida , where he played for coach Bear Wolf ' s ironically named " Golden Era " Florida Gators football team from 1946 to 1949 . Kynes played both offense and defense , and was a third - team All - Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) lineman and the Gators ' team captain in 1949 . Memorably , in 1949 , he played a key defensive role in the Gators ' 28 – 7 upset of the Georgia Bulldogs and was the last Gator football player to play every minute of an entire sixty - minute game . He also played for coach Sam J . McAllister ' s Florida Gators men ' s basketball team from 1946 to 1950 . Kynes was also an outstanding student and was honored as a member of Phi Beta Kappa . Kynes earned his bachelor ' s degree from the University of Florida College of Business Administration in 1950 , and was later inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a " Gator Great " in 1976 . All three of Kynes ' sons also played football for the Gators in the 1970s . Professional football . The National Football League ' s Pittsburgh Steelers selected Kynes in the fourteenth round ( 178th pick overall ) of the 1950 NFL Draft . After graduating from the University of Florida , he married Marjorie Hiatt , a graduate of Florida State University and a former Seminoles cheerleader . Kynes chose to play center for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) for a single season in . Law , politics and business . Kynes returned to the University of Florida in 1952 , where he attended the College of Law and was elected president of Florida Blue Key leadership honorary . He graduated with his bachelor of laws degree in 1955 . He subsequently served as an officer in the U . S . Air Force for two years , before entering private practice in Ocala , Florida . Kynes served as Florida governor Farris Bryant ' s executive assistant after Bryant was elected in 1960 . In January 1964 , Bryant appointed Kynes as the Florida Attorney General to succeed Richard Ervin , after Ervin resigned as attorney general to accept an appointment to the Florida Supreme Court . Kynes stood for a full four - year term in the 1964 Democratic Party primary election in May 1964 , but was defeated by 599 votes out of 938 , 677 cast . and served the remainder of Ervin ' s term of office through January 1965 . After his term as Florida Attorney General expired in January 1965 , Kynes moved to Tampa , Florida to become vice president of the Jim Walter Corporation . He was executive vice president , secretary , and general counsel of its successor companies Hillsborough Holding Corporation and Walter Industries , Inc . Death and legacy . Kynes died of stomach cancer at his home in Tampa in 1988 ; he was 60 years old . He was survived his wife of thirty - eight years , Marjorie Hiatt Kynes , and their three sons . Several friends and classmates initiated the James W . Kynes Award in 1986 , which is presented annually to the Florida Gators offensive lineman " who best exemplified the mental and physical toughness and ' iron - man ' determination Kynes exhibited as a Gator player . " Kynes previously served as the president of the University of Florida National Alumni Association , and he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus . After his death , friends and former teammates endowed a University of Florida scholarship in his name . The university awards the annual $ 10 , 000 scholarship to a former Gator student - athlete , who has demonstrated exceptional character and high academic achievement , in order to pursue a graduate or professional degree .