Elbert Dubenion (February 16, 1933 – December 26, 2019) was an

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 ...

wide receiver and

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Ther ...

who spent his entire nine-season professional career with the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. T ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. He played college football for

Bluffton College Bluffton University is a private Mennonite university in Bluffton, Ohio. It is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, with four programs that have earned programmatic accreditation: dietetics, education, music, and social work. The unive ...

(now Bluffton University) in northwest

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Dubenion, the longest-tenured member of the team's inaugural roster despite being 27 years old at the start of his professional career, is considered one of the best players in the team's history and was an archetype of the AFL's emphasis on speed and the long bomb, both of which were two of Dubenion's greatest strengths and earned him the nickname "Golden Wheels".

Career

Dubenion was drafted in the fourteenth round of the

1959 NFL Draft The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the dr ...

by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

of 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 major ...

. His relatively old age (26 at the time) and hailing from a smaller college meant that he was never considered a serious prospect, and the Browns released him prior to the start of the season. Dubenion was among many AFL players from smaller and less renowned colleges that the league was signing in search of talent that the NFL had overlooked, and the Buffalo Bills signed him as a free agent. During his

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

season, one of his quarterbacks,

Johnny Green John Waldo Green (October 10, 1908 – May 15, 1989) was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, conductor and pianist. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earli ...

, gave Dubenion a backhanded compliment regarding his speed and alleged inability to catch a football, noting that he had "golden wheels." The nickname ''Golden Wheels'' stuck for the remainder of his career. In his rookie season, Dubenion had seven touchdowns and 752 receiving yards on 42 catches, a 17.9 yd/catch average. He ran 16 times for 94 yards and a touchdown, a 5.6 yd/carry average. In 1961, facing tighter and deeper coverages, he upped his production as a runner, rushing for 173 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries, a 10.3 yd/carry average. He had 31 catches for 461 yards and six touchdowns. In 1964, Dubenion had one of the most sensational seasons of any receiver in pro football history, scoring 10 touchdowns among his 42 receptions for 1,139 yards, while collecting 27.1 yards per catch. In nine seasons, he totalled 296 receptions for 5,424 yards and 36 TDs for a career average of 18.3 yd/catch, and rushed for 360 yards and three touchdowns on 48 carries, a career average of seven yds/carry. When

Wray Carlton Linwood Wray Carlton (born June 18, 1937) is a former American gridiron football running back who played professionally in both Canada and the United States. Unable to come to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had selected him in the 195 ...

was released by the Bills on September 2, 1968, it made Dubenion the last player from the Bills original roster in 1960 to still be with the club. Dubenion ranks seventh all-time in the AFL in receptions and reception yardage. He holds the record for the longest reception in AFL playoff history, a 93-yd touchdown reception from

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ameri ...

Daryle Lamonica Daryle Pasquale Lamonica (July 17, 1941 – April 21, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He spent ...

against the

Boston Patriots Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- most p ...

in 1963. He was a 1993 inductee of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame and his number 44 is officially in "reduced circulation," meaning although it is not officially

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

, current players cannot wear the number out of deference to Dubenion.

Death

Dubenion died December 26, 2019, from complications related to

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubenion, Elbert 1933 births 2019 deaths American football wide receivers Bluffton Beavers football players Buffalo Bills players American Football League All-Star players Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) People from Griffin, Georgia American Football League players Neurological disease deaths in Ohio Deaths from Parkinson's disease

Career

Death

See also

References

External links