{{Short description|American football player}} {{Distinguish|Fats Lawrence}} {{Infobox person |image=Fatty Lawrence.jpg |image_size=220px |birth_place=Murfreesboro, Tennessee, U.S. |birth_date={{birth date|1903|5|6}} |death_place=Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |death_date=August, 1976 (aged 73) |occupation=head of Nashville’s Water and Sewerage Services Department |module={{Infobox college football player|embed=yes |height_ft=5 |height_in=7 |weight_lb=195 |currentnumber=19, 15 |currentposition=Guard |highschool=Hume-Fogg |pastschools=Vanderbilt (1921–1924) |highlights= *SIAA championship (1921) *SoCon championship (1922, 1923) }} }} '''Robert Landy "Fatty" Lawrence''' (May 6, 1903 – August, 1976)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JLWP-ZZX|title=Family Search}}</ref> was a college football player who went on to become the superintendent of Nashville’s Water and Sewerage Services Department from 1932 to 1971;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.nashville.gov/Water-Services/About-Us/History/Superintendents-and-Directors.aspx|title = Nashville > Water Services > About Us > History > Superintendents and Directors}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/one-soldiers-story/Content?oid=1180646|title=One Soldier's Story|author=Rob Simbeck|date=August 1, 1996}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yDkkAQAAMAAJ&q=%22robert+l.+lawrence%22+nashville+water|year=1939|journal=Journal of the American Water Works Association|volume=31|page=977|title=Cross-Connection Elimination in Nashville|author=Robert L. Lawrence Jr.|issue=6|doi=10.1002/j.1551-8833.1939.tb12834.x|url-access=subscription}}</ref> namesake of the Robert L. Lawrence Jr., Filtration Plant. He was the father of United States Navy vice admiral William P. Lawrence and the grandfather of NASA astronaut Wendy Lawrence.
==Vanderbilt University== Lawrence was a prominent guard for Dan McGugin's Vanderbilt Commodores football team of Vanderbilt University from 1921 to 1924.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19241208&id=e1YsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=LMoEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4362,6199849&hl=en|title=Vanderbilt Will Lose Six Gridiron Stars|work=Spartanburg Herald|date=December 8, 1924}}</ref> He was a part of three conference titles.
===1922=== In the second week of play of 1922 against Henderson-Brown, Vanderbilt won 33 to 0. Lawrence recovered a fumble in the end zone for Vanderbilt's fourth touchdown.<ref name="VandyArkansas">{{Closed access}} [http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/HistArchive/?p_product=EANX&p_theme=ahnp&p_nbid=W5EI4FONMTM1ODMzMzEzNy4zMDY4Njk6MToxNToxMzIuMTk4LjIyNC4yMDk&p_action=doc&s_lastnonissuequeryname=8&d_viewref=search&p_queryname=8&p_docnum=1&p_docref=v2:11210D409F608820@EANX-117BC6B1C2D2CB28@2423336-117BC6B290F53790@25-117BC6B645AC0E90@Vandy+Defeats+Arkansas+Team.+Although+Playing+Slovenly+Ball%2C+Commodores+Win+by+33-0 "Vandy Defeats Arkansas Team."] The Macon Daily Telegraph 8 Oct. 1922: 8.</ref> Lawrence also intercepted a pass in the scoreless tie with Michigan.<ref name=":1">{{Closed access}} {{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/1873197002.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+15%2C+1922&author=SAM+GREENE&pub=Detroit+Free+Press+(1858-1922)&edition=&startpage=21&desc=Michigan+And+Vanderbitt+Play+To+Scoreless+Tie+In+Commodores%27+Stadium.|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130104170555/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/freep/access/1873197002.html?FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Oct+15,+1922&author=SAM+GREENE&pub=Detroit+Free+Press+(1858-1922)&edition=&startpage=21&desc=Michigan+And+Vanderbitt+Play+To+Scoreless+Tie+In+Commodores'+Stadium.|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 4, 2013|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|title=Michigan and Vanderbilt play to Scoreless Tie In Commodores' Stadium: Southerns Spring Surprise on Rivals|author=Sam S. Greene|author-link=Sam Greene (sportswriter)|date=October 15, 1922}}</ref> He was mentioned as one of the players of the game in the 14 to 6 victory over Tennessee. ''The Nashville Banner'' said Lawrence had been "in there doing a man's job blocking a kick and tackling with the deadliness of a tiger unleashed in a cave of lions."<ref name="50Years">Russell, Fred, and Maxwell Edward Benson. ''Fifty Years of Vanderbilt Football''. Nashville, TN, 1938, p. 40–41</ref>
===1924=== He was selected All-Southern by his teammates.<ref name=players>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1938616/harrisburg_telegraph/|work=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=December 4, 1924|page=20|title=Game's For The Sake|author=Lawrence Perry|via=Newspapers.com|accessdate=March 7, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{1921 Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox}} {{1922 Vanderbilt Commodores football navbox}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Fatty}} Category:1903 births Category:1976 deaths Category:Vanderbilt Commodores football players Category:American football guards Category:Players of American football from Nashville, Tennessee Category:Players of American football from Murfreesboro, Tennessee Category:20th-century American sportsmen