Duke’s secret
Former East Chicago Roosevelt 2-sport star, who died in May, was blind in one eye
Byron “Duke” Florence, who died May 4, was a devoted father and grandfather, a respected member of the East Chicago community and perhaps one of the best one-eyed athletes in the history of sports.
It was one of Duke’s great life secrets, known only by his family and a few close friends later in his life, that he had vision only in his left eye. He was legally blind in his right eye.
Duke lost his sight when he was beaten by a gang of kids while walking home from football practice his freshman year of high school, according to his sister Cynthia Florence-Patton. He spent several days in the hospital with his face swollen. He had to wear an eye patch when he returned.
Duke, a 1969 East Chicago Roosevelt graduate, was a running back and a defensive back for the Rough Riders and a star pitcher and outfielder for the baseball team. He was drafted by the Indians out of high school, and he tried out for the Chiefs after college, making the final cut twice before deciding to return to East Chicago, Florence-Patton said. His best season at Northern Illinois was in 1971, when he rushed for 544 yards and caught 16 passes.
Dr. Jorge Benavente, a Munster optometrist who was two years younger than Duke, diagnosed him about 30 years ago when he came to get fitted for reading glasses.
Benavente, a Roosevelt graduate who had grown up admiring Duke’s athletic prowess, was astounded when he broke what was old news for Duke.
“You know you are blind in your right eye, Duke. How long have you been this way?” he asked.
“So what. It ain’t no big deal,” Duke said.
And that was the only time that Benavente ever talked to Duke about being blind.
Last winter, when Benavente knew Duke’s health was failing and he didn’t have much time left, Benavente decided his story had to be told.
Benavente still is trying to process how Duke excelled and perhaps how extraordinary he’d have been with vision in two eyes.
He said Duke didn’t have three-dimensional viewing (stereoscopic vision) but had “low vision. He could see light and some details.” Duke compensated by turning his head toward whatever he was looking at with his left eye. He had been hit so hard that the lens in his right eye was permanently dislocated, according to Benavente.
Benavente can’t understand some things that Duke had to do, like play at night or make a running catch in the outfield over his right shoulder.
“He was an amazing athlete,” he said. “He did stuff that people with two eyes can’t do.”
Joe Rivich, his baseball coach at Roosevelt, was surprised to find out Duke was blind. Rivich had a vague recollection of hearing he was blind in an eye, but Rivich never knew the details.
“That’s amazing, “Rivich said of Duke’s vision. “He’s the best one-eyed player I ever coached.”
Rivich said he was one of the greatest players he coached. He had a strong arm, he was a switch hitter who rarely struck out and he was a great defensive player who was extremely fast. Rivich compared him to Kenny Lofton. Duke used to tell Florence-Patton that he was so fast he could “catch a BB in a snowstorm.”
Rivich wanted Duke to play baseball. The coach thought he was an extraordinary talent, but he wouldn’t move off the football track.
“He never struck out,” Rivich said. “For him to do what he did with one eye is amazing. I was surprised he didn’t pursue baseball. It’s possible he thought he’d be a better football player because of his eye.”
No one knows why Duke was so guarded about his eye.
His mother, Lillie Mae Florence, suspected for a long time after the injury that he couldn’t see well out of his right eye because he’d always tilt his toward her when they spoke.
When she would try to ask, he would shrug it off and say, “What are you talking about?”
Benavente remembers hearing at the time about how Duke got beat up, but it was never really discussed after he returned to school.
He wonders whether Duke kept it to himself because kids could be mean.
There were lots of local gangs back then, and kids got jumped.
“They get shot today,” Benavente said. “I remember one kid who got his head run over. He survived with a plate in it. We used to call him ‘Gumby.’ It was sad.“
Whatever the reason for the secret, Duke probably is glad he’s not here to read this story. He liked it better when everyone thought he was a normal guy who happened to be a good athlete with two good eyes.