Eugene Allen "Gene" Lipscomb (August 9, 1931 – May 10, 1963) 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 ...
defensive tackle
A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...
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 ten seasons and a
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
. He was known by the nickname "Big Daddy".
Early life
Born in
Uniontown, Alabama
Uniontown is a city in Perry County, Alabama, in west-central Alabama. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city is 2,107, up 18.7% over 2010. Of the 573 cities in Alabama, Uniontown is the 207th most populous.
Uniontown has four sites l ...
, Lipscomb never knew his father, and moved to
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, at age three with his mother. When he was eleven, his mother was murdered in the neighborhood where they lived, and he moved in with his maternal grandparents.
Professional career
After graduating from
Miller High School, Lipscomb did not attend college and instead served in the
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...
, where he was stationed at
Camp Pendleton
Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by Oc ...
and played on the camp's football team.
Signed as an
undrafted
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...
by the
Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...
in
1953
Events
January
* January 6 – The Asian Socialist Conference opens in Rangoon, Burma.
* January 12 – Estonian émigrés found a Estonian government-in-exile, government-in-exile in Oslo.
* January 14
** Marshal Josip Broz Tito i ...
, Lipscomb played for them through
1955
Events January
* January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama.
* January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut.
* January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...
, then was
waived in September
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...
and claimed by the
Baltimore Colts
The Baltimore Colts were a professional American football team that played in Baltimore from its founding in 1953 to 1984. The team now plays in Indianapolis, as the Indianapolis Colts. The team was named for Baltimore's history of horse breed ...
.
In two of his five seasons there,
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
, he earned a spot in the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
, and was instrumental in the Colts' two consecutive NFL championships in
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
and
1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
, playing alongside
hall of famers Gino Marchetti
Gino John Marchetti (January 2, 1926 – April 29, 2019) was an American professional American football, football player who was a defensive end and Tackle (gridiron football position), offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) ...
and
Art Donovan.
In July
1961
Events January
* January 3
** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015).
** Aero Flight 311 ...
, Lipscomb was traded to the
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...
with center
Buzz Nutter
Madison Monroe "Buzz" Nutter (February 16, 1931 – April 12, 2008) was an American football center in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers. He played college football at Virginia Tech.
Early ...
for receiver
Jimmy Orr
Jimmy Orr (October 4, 1935 – October 27, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Colts for 13 seasons from 1958 to 1970 in the National Football League (NFL). Orr ...
, defensive tackle Joe Lewis, and linebacker
Dick Campbell.
Lipscomb's final NFL game was after the
1962
Events January
* January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand.
* January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism.
* January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...
season at the
Pro Bowl
The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players.
The format has changed thro ...
in January 1963, in which he was voted lineman of the game.
During the 1959–60 and 1960–61 off-seasons, he was a
professional wrestler
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
.
The
Professional Football Researchers Association
The Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) is an organization of researchers whose mission is to preserve and, in some cases, reconstruct professional football history. It was founded on June 22, 1979 in Canton, Ohio by writer/hist ...
named Lipscomb to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006.
In 2019, despite currently not being in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...
, he was chosen as a finalist for the NFL's
100th Anniversary Team
Death
On May 10, 1963, Lipscomb died of an overdose of
heroin
Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...
,
on Brice Street in Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
, Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, at the apartment of Timothy Black. His funeral was in Detroit and he was buried at Lincoln Park Memorial Cemetery.
Further reading
* Davis, Kelci
"Gene Lipscomb 1931-1963"
Blackpast
BlackPast.org is a web-based reference center that is dedicated primarily to the understanding of African-American history and Afro-Caribbean history and the history of people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry. In 2011 the American Library Associati ...
Sports Bio, November 18, 2019
References
External links
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame
– Eugene Allen (Gene) Lipscomb
Steeler Nation
– Eugene “Big Daddy” Lipscomb
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipscomb, Eugene
1931 births
1963 deaths
American football defensive ends
American football defensive tackles
Baltimore Colts players
Los Angeles Rams players
Pittsburgh Steelers players
Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players
Western Conference Pro Bowl players
People from Uniontown, Alabama
Players of American football from Detroit
African-American players of American football
Deaths by heroin overdose in the United States
Drug-related deaths in Maryland
United States Marines
20th-century African-American sportspeople