Donald Denver Fleming (June 11, 1937 – June 4, 1963) was an American college and professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

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 ...

(NFL) for three seasons during the early 1960s. Fleming 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 ...

for the University of Florida, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. His professional football career was cut short by his accidental death by electrocution in 1963.

Early life

Fleming was born in Bellaire, Ohio, in 1937 to Denver Fleming.National Football League, Historical Players
Don Fleming
Retrieved June 2, 2010. He attended Shadyside High School (Ohio), Shadyside High School in Shadyside, Ohio,databaseFootball.com, Players
Don Fleming
Retrieved June 2, 2010. where he was a standout prep player for the Shadyside Tigers high school football team.

College career

Fleming attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Bob Woodruff (American football), Bob Woodruff's Florida Gators football team from 1956 Florida Gators football team, 1956 to 1958 Florida Gators football team, 1958.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 96, 124, 181 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011. Fleming was the Gators' team captain in 1958, and he finished his college football career as a first-team All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) selection. Woodruff ranked him as the Gators' best receiver of the 1950s. The History of the Arizona Cardinals#Chicago years (1898–1959), Chicago Cardinals drafted Fleming following his senior football season,Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History
1959 National Football League Draft
. Retrieved June 2, 2010. but he chose to remain in school and exhaust his remaining NCAA baseball eligibility playing for coach Dave Fuller's Florida Gators baseball team from 1958 to 1960. He was the captain of the Gators baseball team, and led the Gators in home runs and stolen bases.

Professional career

Fleming was selected by the Chicago Cardinals in the 28th round (327th pick overall) of the 1959 NFL Draft, but he remained at the University of Florida and did not play during the NFL season. He successfully urged Chicago management to trade him to the Cleveland Browns before the start of the season. Fleming was a close friend of another Browns defensive back, Bernie Parrish, a fellow Florida graduate, and the two were said to be almost inseparable during the NFL season. Over the following three years, Fleming played regularly at safety (American football position), safety, Interception, intercepted ten passes, recovered four fumbles, and made ''The Sporting News'' All-NFL team in .Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players
Don Fleming
Retrieved June 23, 2010.

Accidental death and legacy

Fleming, his wife Rosalie and their son Ty lived in his hometown of Shadyside, Ohio, during football season, and in Winter Park, Florida, during the NFL off-season.Associated Press,
Ex-UF Gridder Fleming Is Killed
" ''Daytona Beach Morning Journal'', p. 15 (June 5, 1963). Retrieved June 23, 2010. As a 25-year-old NFL All-Conference selection, Fleming was already planning for when his professional football career ended.Jimmy Mann,
Don Fleming: Real Pro
" ''St. Petersburg Times'', p. 1-C (June 5, 1963). Retrieved June 23, 2010. He had majored in building construction at the University of Florida, and had been working as a foreman for a Central Florida construction company during the off-season to stay in shape and gain industry experience. On June 4, 1963, Fleming and a co-worker, Walter Smith, were operating a crane on a construction site west of Orlando, Florida, when the boom of the crane brushed an overhead 12,000-volt high-tension electrical transmission line.United Press International,
Former Gator Star Is Killed
" ''St. Petersburg Times'', p. 1-C (June 5, 1963). Retrieved June 22, 2010. Fleming and Smith were Electric shock, electrocuted, and attempts to revive them at the hospital failed. Earlier the same day, the Browns had announced that Fleming had signed his contract for the 1963 season. His death came only 17 days after that of Ernie Davis, the overall No. 1 pick in the 1962 NFL Draft, whom the Browns had acquired in a trade. The Browns retired both Davis' uniform number No. 45 and Fleming's No. 46 in memory of the players. Fleming Field at Shadyside High School, Fleming's alma mater, is named in his memory. When the Browns practiced at Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (Hiram College), the field house they used also carried Fleming's name. Fleming was nominated for the Florida Sports Hall of Fame within days of his death, and he was later inducted into the List of University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame members, University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great."F Club, Hall of Fame
Gator Greats
Retrieved December 14, 2014.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Carroll, Bob, et al., ''Total Football II'', HarperCollins, New York, New York (1999). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . * McCarthy, Kevin M.,
Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football
', Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). . * McEwen, Tom, ''The Gators: A Story of Florida Football'', The Strode Publishers, Huntsville, Alabama (1974). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Fleming, Don 1937 births 1963 deaths Accidental deaths by electrocution Accidental deaths in Florida American builders American football safeties Chicago Cardinals players Cleveland Browns players Florida Gators baseball players Florida Gators football players Industrial accident deaths People from Bellaire, Ohio National Football League players with retired numbers