Carlos Alvarez

Carlos Alvarez Vazquez Rodriguez Ubieta (born April 1, 1950) is a former American football college player who was a consensus All-American wide receiver for the Florida Gators football team of the University of Florida from 1969 to 1971.

Early life

Alvarez was born in Cuba in 1950, the youngest of Licinio and Isola Alvarez's three sons. Alvarez's father Licinio had been a successful lawyer in Cuba, but his parents fled to the United States to escape Fidel Castro's communist revolution in 1960, when Alvarez was a 10-year-old boy. Alvarez was the Pioneers' star halfback who could run and catch, and was touted by the local newspapers as the best back in Dade County—on offense and defense. On at least two occasions, he played all forty-eight minutes of a high school game, playing on both offense and defense. During Graves' final season as Florida's head coach in 1969, Alvarez was one of several talented second-year Gators known as the "Super Sophs" who led the team to its then all-time best record of 9–1–1. At the close of his sophomore season, he was honored as a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection and a consensus first-team All-American, and he caught a nine-yard touchdown pass to provide the Gators' margin of victory in their 14–13 upset of the Tennessee Volunteers in the 1969 Gator Bowl. He was also the Gators' leading receiver in 1970 and 1971, marking three straight seasons as the Gators' top offensive weapon.

In the last game of that 1969 season against the University of Miami he heard a popping sound in his right knee, which would be the start of a series of injuries. In 1970, he was limited with a balky right knee that tended to swell at the slightest irritation and was thought of having an arthritic condition. He was able to come back in 1971, but played sparingly, although against the University of Maryland, he had 10 receptions for 134 yards, including a spectacular 16-yard touchdown, helping the Gators win 27–23. In 1972, he did graduate work in law. On January 9, he saw part-time action in the American Bowl. Two days later, he had surgery on his left knee (which he had previously injured as a junior in high school). Three days later, the apartment he shared with his brother was destroyed by fire.

Florida Gators receiving records

Although Florida has fielded many prolific offenses including 17 All-American receivers and three Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks since Carlos Alvarez last played in 1971, he is still the Gators' record holder for pass receptions in a single game (15), in a single season (88), and career receiving yards (2,563) He received an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship Award to attend the Duke University School of Law in Durham, North Carolina, and earned his juris doctor (J.D.) degree summa cum laude in 1975. After graduation, he worked as a law professor at the Southern Methodist University School of Law in Dallas, Texas, where he was named the Outstanding Law Professor in 1980.

Following in the family legal tradition of his father and older brothers, Alvarez became a practicing attorney. He is a member of The Florida Bar, and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, and the U.S. Court of Claims. and elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011. In one of a series of articles written in 2006, The Gainesville Sun recognized him as No. 7 among the top 100 all-time Gators football players from the first 100 years of the team.

In October 2020, the ESPN SEC Storied series broadcast a documentary on Carlos Alvarez titled, "The All-American Cuban Comet". It was directed and produced by Gaspar Gonzalez. It covers approximately the first 22 years of Alvarez' life and his desire to become an American citizen after leaving Cuba at the age of 10 and how football became part of that struggle. It includes a perspective of that struggle during the socially turbulent times of the 60's and Alvarez' political activism during that time.