Donald Wayne Bass (March 11, 1956October 26, 1989) was a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He played five seasons for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

(1978–1981) and the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

(1982). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of Houston The University of Houston (UH) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the List of universities in Texas by enrollment, university in Texas ...

. He has two living children. In his four seasons at Houston, Bass caught 105 passes for 1,821 yards and 16 touchdowns. Bass was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 1978 NFL draft. Bass went on to catch 117 passes for 1,580 yards and 13 touchdowns over his first three seasons. He did not have any regular season receptions in his last two years, though he did catch a touchdown pass in the Bengals 1981 win over the San Diego Chargers in the AFC championship game. He also recovered a fumbled kickoff return in that game. In October 1989, Bass was shot and killed by Darrell Billingslea, after Bass allegedly told police to search Billingslea's motel room for drugs. Billingslea was convicted of killing Bass in 1990 while serving a 25-year prison sentence for another murder. He was paroled in 2007 and was convicted of a third murder in 2009, resulting in a 50-year prison sentence on top of the 11 years left for the original killings.

References

1956 births 1989 deaths Male murder victims Players of American football from Fort Worth, Texas American football tight ends Cincinnati Bengals players New Orleans Saints players Houston Cougars football players People murdered in Texas Deaths by firearm in Texas 1989 murders in the United States {{Tightend-1950s-stub