Large was born in 1850 in the Whitehouse Station section of Readington Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey, the son of John K. and Eliza (Hall) Large.
On November 6, 1869, Large was one of 25 Rutgers players to face The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in the first intercollegiate football game ever played, at College Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey.