Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

with 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 ...

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 ...

for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with

Deacon Jones David D. "Deacon" Jones (December 9, 1938 – June 3, 2013) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, San Diego Chargers, and the Washington Redskins. H ...

Merlin Olsen Merlin Jay Olsen (; September 15, 1940 – March 11, 2010) was an American football player, announcer, and actor. For his entire 15-year professional football career he was a defensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football Le ...

, and

Rosey Grier Roosevelt "Rosey" Grier (born July 14, 1932) is an American actor, singer, Protestant minister, and former professional football player. He was a notable college football player for Pennsylvania State University who earned a retrospective plac ...

, Lundy was a member of the

Fearsome Foursome ''Fearsome Foursome'' may refer to: * Fearsome Foursome (comics) ''Fearsome Foursome'' may refer to: * Fearsome Foursome (comics), a Marvel comic book group * Fearsome Foursome (American football) The Fearsome Foursome was the dominating defen ...

, often considered one of the best defensive lines in NFL history. All four also did some acting; Lundy portrayed the boulder-hurling cyclops in the unaired pilot of ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel ''The Swiss Family Robinson.'' The series fo ...

'' (this pilot was later made into episode 4 of the series, entitled "There Were Giants in the Earth"). Lamar Lundy 1959

Lundy was born in

Richmond, Indiana Richmond is a city in eastern Wayne County, Indiana. Bordering the state of Ohio, it is the county seat of Wayne County and is part of the Dayton, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 36,812. Situa ...

, and graduated from Richmond High School; a 2 sport star, Lamar led the Red Devils to the State Finals in basketball, playing for Hall of Fame Coach, Art Beckner. He was selected to the Indiana All-Star team; he was also an All-State player in football. When it came time to choose a college, Lamar selected and attended

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, where he was the first black student to receive a

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 ...

scholarship, and where he was named MVP of both the football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams in his senior year. He led the football team in receiving his senior season and was a 2x All-Big Ten (2nd Team) end. As a collegiate basketball player, Lamar scored 678 points (#73 all-time for the Boilermakers) and collected 533 rebounds (#29 all-time for the Boilermakers). He was a 3rd team All-Big Ten Center in 1957. The 6'7" Lundy was drafted by both the NFL and the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, but he opted for a career in football. Early in his professional career, Lundy (#85) was occasionally used as an offensive receiver, catching 35 passes for 584 yards and 6

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s. He scored an additional 3 touchdowns on

interception In ball-playing competitive team sports, an interception or pick is a move by a player involving a pass of the ball—whether by foot or hand, depending on the rules of the sport—in which the ball is intended for a player of the same team b ...

returns (coincidentally, on the only 3 interceptions of his NFL career). When he retired as a player, Lundy became an assistant coach for the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

, but was forced by illness to cease coaching. Lundy died at age 71 on February 24, 2007. He was the first of the Fearsome Foursome to die. Lundy, who battled

diabetes Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level ( hyperglycemia) over a prolonged period of time. Symptoms often include frequent urination, increased thirst and increased ap ...

Graves disease Graves' disease (german: Morbus Basedow), also known as toxic diffuse goiter, is an autoimmune disease that affects the thyroid. It frequently results in and is the most common cause of hyperthyroidism. It also often results in an enlarged thyro ...

, myasthenia gravis,

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

, and

heart disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...

, was survived by two adult sons, two adult daughters, and many grandchildren.

Honors

* Selected to play in the 1959 NFL

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 ...

. * Selected to the NFL

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

team in 1967. * Inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame in 1975. * Inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.Lundy
http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/lamar-lundy/?query=misc1.eq.Richmond&xsearch_id=HallofFame_Highschool&xsearch /nowiki>=Richmond&back=HallofFame, Lamar Lundy] * Inducted into the

Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995 * The National Rd. West Bridge, in his hometown of Richmond, Indiana, was renamed "Lamar Lundy Memorial Bridge" in honor of him.

References

External links

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lundy, Lamar 1935 births 2007 deaths American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Los Angeles Rams players Purdue Boilermakers football players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Western Conference Pro Bowl players Sportspeople from Richmond, Indiana Players of American football from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana African-American players of American football African-American basketball players Burials at Earlham Cemetery, Richmond, Indiana American men's basketball players 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American people