Jim Gibbons

James Edwin "Jim" Gibbons (September 26, 1936 – August 20, 2016) was an American professional football tight end who played for the National Football League's Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1968. Born in Chicago, Illinois, he attended the University of Iowa, where he played alongside future Lions teammate Alex Karras. Gibbons earned All-American and All-Big Ten honors as a senior and served as Hawkeye team captain in 1957. In a 1957 game against Minnesota, he caught nine passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-20 Iowa victory. His touchdown catch in a home game against Ohio State on November 10, 1956, was the lone score of the contest, securing a 6-0 win by the seventh-ranked Hawkeyes over the sixth-ranked Buckeyes and clinching a Rose Bowl appearance and at least a share of the Big Ten championship, which Iowa went on to win. In the 1957 Rose Bowl, Gibbons started for the third-ranked Iowa team that defeated tenth-ranked Oregon State 35-19, catching a 16-yard pass from quarterback and game MVP Ken Ploen. Gibbons and Karras were two of seven Hawkeyes selected by NFL teams in the 1958 NFL draft, with Karras chosen tenth overall by the Lions.