| No. 35 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position | Fullback | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born | (1954-10-25)October 25, 1954 (age 71) Enterprise, Alabama, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Listed height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Listed weight | 217 lb (98 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school | Sarasota (FL) | ||||||||||||||
| College | Florida | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1976: 2nd round, 30th overall pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Jimmy DeWayne DuBose (born October 25, 1954) is an American former professionalfootball player who was arunning back in theNational Football League (NFL) for three seasons during the 1970s. DuBose playedcollege football for theUniversity of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for theTampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL.
DuBose was born inEnterprise, Alabama in 1954.[1] He attendedSarasota High School inSarasota, Florida,[2] and he was a standout high school football player for the Sarasota Sailors, rushing for 1,400 yards and sixteentouchdowns as a senior.[3]
DuBose accepted an athletic scholarship to attend theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he playedfullback for coachDoug Dickey'sFlorida Gators football team from1972 to1975.[3] Dickey described him as a "picture perfect fullback," able to run over people like a fullback but also able to run like ahalfback in the open field. Memorably, DuBose ran for 180 yards against theVanderbilt Commodores, including an eighty-yard touchdown run on the first play from scrimmage, and rushed for 204 yards versus theFlorida State Seminoles as a senior.[3][4] 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.[5]
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 ofEmmitt Smith's seasons).[4] 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-teamAll-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection, the SEC Player of the Year, and a second-teamAll-American; he also finished sixth in theHeisman Trophy balloting.[4][6][7] DuBose was the recipient of the Gators'Fergie Ferguson Award recognizing the "senior football player who displayed outstanding leadership, character and courage."[4] He graduated from Florida with a bachelor's degree in public relations in 1980, and was inducted into theUniversity of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 1987.[8][9]
DuBose was selected by the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round (thirtieth pick overall) of the1976 NFL draft,[10] following the Buccaneers' first-round pick,Leroy Selmon,[3] and became part of the inaugural Buccaneers line-up.[11] Hobbled by an injured ankle in hisrookie season in1976, 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 the1977 preseason, earning the praise of Buccaneersoffensive coordinatorJoe Gibbs.[12] In1978, he became the Buccaneers' first-ever running back to gain 100 yards in a game.[3] Unfortunately, only four plays after achieving this milestone, he tore knee ligaments while tacklingNew York Giants linebackerHarry Carson after aninterception, an injury that benched him for the entire1979 season.[13] He never regained his pre-injury form,[14] and was traded to theMiami Dolphins in1980, along with a second-round draft pick for running back Gary Davis and cornerbackNorris Thomas.[15] Miami coachDon Shula cut DuBose from the squad, feeling that he would, at 205 pounds, be too small to replaceLarry Csonka.[16]
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.[1] He also compiled seventeen receptions for 118 yards.[1]
DuBose is married, and he and his wife have a son and a daughter.[3] DuBose and his wife worked in education. DuBose retired in 2018.[3]
