Howard Lee "Hokie" Gajan Jr. (September 6, 1959 – April 11, 2016) 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 ...

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 American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

who played five seasons 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 ...

Biography

Gajan played football at Baker High School in

Baker, Louisiana Baker is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, in East Baton Rouge Parish. It is part of the Baton Rouge metropolitan statistical area, and had a population of 12,455 at the 2020 census, down from 13,895 at the 2010 U.S. census. History Baker ...

, and he received a scholarship to play at

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU). He was drafted out of LSU by 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 ...

in the

1981 NFL Draft The 1981 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 28–29, 1981, at the New York She ...

. In 1984, the same season

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 ...

running back

Eric Dickerson Eric Demetric Dickerson (born September 2, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. Dickerson played college football for the Mustangs of Southern Me ...

set a new NFL single season rushing record, Gajan led all NFL rushers (with 100 or more attempts) in yards gained per attempt (102 carries, 615 yards; a 6.03 ypc average). Through 2015, he remains one of 19 NFL running backs to exceed six yards per carry in a (100 or more attempt) season. Missing the 1986 season due to a knee injury, Gajan retired after the 1987 season after injuring the opposite knee. During his career, Gajan rushed for 1,358 yards and 11 touchdowns, and also had 515 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Gajan worked as a scout for the Saints before he entered broadcasting. He was the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

alongside Jim Henderson on Saints radio broadcasts. In the fall of 2015, he was diagnosed with a rare cancer known as

liposarcoma Liposarcomas are the most common subtype of soft tissue sarcomas, accounting for at least 20% of all sarcomas in adults. Soft tissue sarcomas are rare neoplasms with over 150 different histological subtypes or forms. Liposarcomas arise from the pr ...

. Gajan died on April 11, 2016. He was the 2016 recipient of the Joe Gemelli Fleur-De-Lis Award, an annual award honoring a person for contributions to the Saints organization. Gajan's award was voted in March and was announced posthumously."Hokie Gajan to be honored with Joe Gemelli Fleur de Lis award"
New Orleans Saints, April 12, 2016.

References

1959 births 2016 deaths Baker High School (Louisiana) alumni American football running backs LSU Tigers football players New Orleans Saints announcers New Orleans Saints players National Football League announcers Players of American football from Baton Rouge, Louisiana People from Baker, Louisiana Deaths from liposarcoma Deaths from cancer in Louisiana Ed Block Courage Award recipients {{Runningback-1950s-stub