Gene Lipscomb

Eugene Allen Lipscomb (August 9, 1931 – May 10, 1963) was an American professional football defensive tackle and occasional professional wrestler who played ten seasons in the National Football League. He was born in Uniontown, Alabama, to a family of cotton pickers. He never knew his father, who died of illness in a federal Civilian Conservation Corps camp, and at age three his mother moved with him to Detroit, Michigan. When he was eleven, his mother was stabbed forty-seven times by her boyfriend and left to die on the street; Lipscomb kept the homicide photographs with him throughout his life. After her death he lived with his maternal grandparents.

Standing 6'6" and weighing around 300 pounds while retaining superior speed and agility, Lipscomb was regarded as a prototype of the modern ultra-athletic interior defensive lineman. He was known by the nickname "Big Daddy," which came from his habit of calling everyone around him "Little Daddy." During his career he was twice selected as a first-team All-Pro and twice chosen for the second All-Pro team. As a member of the Baltimore Colts he was twice an NFL Champion. Lipscomb died on May 10, 1963, at the age of 31.