Paul Edward "Spider" Gibson (August 25, 1924 – August 11, 1999) 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 wi ...

player who played at the

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

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 Ame ...

, and

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 formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

positions. He played college football for

NC State North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The university ...

and professional football for the Buffalo Bills, Ottawa Rough Riders, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Early years

Gibson was born in 1924 in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

. He attended and played football at

Mineral Springs High School Mineral Springs High School is a comprehensive public high school in Mineral Springs, Arkansas, United States that serves grades 7 through 12. It is one of three public high schools in Howard County and the only high school managed by the Miner ...

in Mineral Springs, North Carolina.

College football and military service

Gibson played college football for

from 1943 to 1946. He also served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

Professional football

He was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1947 NFL Draft and by the Buffalo Bills in the 1947 AAFC Draft. He played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) for the Bills for three seasons from 1947 to 1949. He appeared in 30 AAFC games and caught 22 passes for 402 yards while also intercepting a pass on defense. He also played in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

(CFL) for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1950 and for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1951. He appeared in 23 CFL games.

Family and later years

Gibson died in 1999 at age 74 in Charleston, South Carolina.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Paul 1924 births 1999 deaths Buffalo Bills (AAFC) players San Francisco 49ers (AAFC) players Ottawa Rough Riders players Hamilton Tiger-Cats players NC State Wolfpack football players Players of American football from Winston-Salem, North Carolina American football ends United States Army personnel of World War II