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.

Bill Supplee

Supplee of the Maryland athletic board in 1942
Personal information
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

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