Lawrence Jr. Garron (May 23, 1937 – September 13, 2019) was an American professional football player. A fullback, halfback and flanker he played college football at Western Illinois University, then played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) for the Boston Patriots from 1960 through 1968. He holds the team record run of 85 yards from scrimmage, set in a game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 1961. He averaged 5.9 yards per carry in 1962 and accounted for 1,168 total yards from scrimmage in 1963. He is in the top 10 in Patriots history for most total rushing yards, all-purpose yardage and kickoff return yards.

Garron was born on May 23, 1937, in Marks, Mississippi. He was the eldest of nine or 10 brothers and sisters. His father moved the family to Argo, Illinois. Garron's father had attempted to become a boxer, and befriended Joe Louis, whom Garron would meet in later life. Garron attended Argo High School, in Summit, Illinois, where he was considered an excellent student-athlete. During high school he was a reporter for a local newspaper. He was the first person in his family to attend college.

Garron played on Argo's football team. As a junior (1954) and senior (1955), the league's coaches selected Garron first-team All-South Suburban League, at end; doing so unanimously in 1955.

He also played on the school's basketball team. As a 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) guard in 1956, Garron's senior season, he was selected by the Suburban League's basketball coaches to the All-South Suburban second-team. In 1955, the basketball coaches had also selected Garron to the All-South Suburban second-team, at forward.

Garron attended Western Illinois University (WIU), in Macomb, Illinois. From 1957 to 1959, he played football for the Leathernecks, under head coach Lou Saban, as part of the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC). In 1959, the team went undefeated (9–0); and Garron was selected first-team All-IIAC at halfback. This is the only undefeated and untied team in WIU history, and in 1989 the 1959 team was inducted into the school's Athletics Hall of Fame. Garron played his final game that season with a dislocated shoulder, suffered while wrestling, and still scored three touchdowns against Central Michigan to secure the IIAC title.

Before a game against Arkansas State in October 1959, played in Jonesboro, Arkansas, Saban had received death threats that were racist in nature. He knew Garron was level-headed and made him team captain for the game. Garron ran the first kickoff of the game back for a touchdown. On a later kickoff, he was forced out of bounds. Some of the Arkansas State fans pounced on Garron, and stomped on his legs. In the week after winning the game, Saban said "'We expected to get the business in a one-shot deal down South, but we didn't expect Arkansas to be so good'"; noting that some of his players said they had never been hit so hard in a football game. Saban told the press that after the game ended the Arkansas State crowd acknowledged Garron for a well-played game.

Coming out of high school, Garron visited the University of Kansas, hoping to get a basketball scholarship. The coach introduced him to the team's center, future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame member Wilt Chamberlain, and Garron realized his hope was unrealistic. As a member of WIU's track team, he competed years later in the high jump against Chamberlain at the Drake Relays. Garron and Chamberlain continued to stay in contact over the ensuing years.

In 1960, Garron was a running back on the first Boston Patriots team in the inaugural season of the American Football League (AFL), and played for the Patriots from 1960 to 1968, wearing No. 40. At the time of Garron’s death in 2019, Patriots owner Robert Kraft called Garron "'a member of the Patriots' family since Day 1'". Garron's first NFL head coach was his college head coach, Lou Saban, having been hired to coach the Patriots after his perfect 9–0 season at Western Illinois. Saban recruited Garron to the Patriots.