Bill Supplee

American football player and professor

American football player

Bill Supplee
Personal information
Supplee of the Maryland athletic board in 1942
Born:	c. 1903 Washington, D.C.
Died:	July 1966 Laurel, Maryland
Career information
College:	Maryland (1923–1926)
Position:	End, back

Career highlights and awards
1923 second-team All-American

William C. "Zuke" Supplee (December 21, 1903 – July 1966)^[1] was an American educator and college athlete. He attended the University of Maryland where he played college football and basketball for the Maryland Terrapins, and competed in track & field. In 1923, he received second-team All-America football honors, which made him the first Maryland player honored as such.

Early life and college

Supplee was born in Washington, D.C.^[2] In 1922, he enrolled at the University of Maryland. During his initial year, he competed on the freshman track and football teams. Supplee earned varsity football letters each of the next three seasons.^[2] In 1923, Supplee was named a second-team All-American by the Associated Press, which made him the first Maryland football player to receive All-America honors.^[3]^[4] His performances during the team's win against Penn and its narrow loss to period powerhouse, Yale, have been cited as the main reasons for his selection.^[5] He also received an All-America honorable mention from Walter Camp.^[6] In 1924, he was selected to the All-South Atlantic and the All-Maryland football teams, the latter of which was composed of the state's best players. Walter Camp again named Supplee an honorable mention All-American.^[7] In his final season in 1925, he served as the football team's captain.^[2]

Despite all of his athletic endeavors, Supplee excelled in his academic studies. One of his professors said of him, "To those who slander the American athlete as being a poor student and inferior intellect, I should like to point out Supplee as Maryland's refutation."^[2] Supplee graduated in 1926 with a Bachelor of Science degree in education.^[2]

Later life

He later earned a doctorate and served on the university's faculty as a chemistry professor in the 1940s and 1950s.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11] He also served on the university's athletic board.^[9]

Supplee and his wife, Grace, had two daughters. He drowned in 1966 at Rocky Gorge Reservoir in Laurel, Maryland at the age of 63.^[12] His wife, Grace died in 2000. In 1982, Supplee was posthumously inducted into the University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame.^[13]^[14]

References

^ WILLIAM SUPPLEE (1903-1966), Social Security Death Index
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Reveille, Class of 1926, University of Maryland yearbook.
^ "ACC All-Americans", 2007 Atlantic Coast Conference Media Guide, 2007, retrieved 23 December 2008.
^ All-Time Honors Archived 2011-05-23 at the Wayback Machine, 2001 Maryland Terrapins Football Media Guide, University of Maryland and CBS Sports, retrieved 22 December 2008.
^ David Ungrady, Tales from the Maryland Terrapins, p. 26, Sports Publishing LLC, 2003, ISBN 1-58261-688-4.
^ WALTER CAMP PICKS ALL-AMERICA TEAMS; Yale and Cornell Each Receive Two Places on the First Eleven. 26 UNIVERSITIES INCLUDED Twenty-three Eastern Players, Eight Western and Two Southern Named in Collier's, The New York Times, December 18, 1923.
^ Reveille, Class of 1925, University of Maryland.
^ Reveille, Class of 1931, University of Maryland yearbook.
^ ^a ^b Terrapin, Class of 1948, University of Maryland yearbook.
^ Terrapin, Class of 1941, University of Maryland yearbook.
^ Terrapin, Class of 1950, University of Maryland yearbook.
^ DR. SUPPLEE 63, DROWNS; Former Researcher At U.M. Was Outstanding Athlete Archived 2012-11-04 at the Wayback Machine, The Baltimore Sun, July 27, 1966.
^ Appendix H: University of Maryland Athletic Hall of Fame 1982-1998 Archived 2008-08-21 at the Wayback Machine, The M Club, retrieved 23 December 2008.
^ Maryland Athletics Walk of Fame and History Archived 2008-12-16 at the Wayback Machine, "Traditions", University of Maryland Terrapins Athletics official website, retrieved 23 December 2008.