Gene Lipscomb

Born in Uniontown, Alabama, Lipscomb never knew his father, and moved to Detroit, Michigan with his mother at the age of three. When he was 11, his mother was murdered in the neighborhood where they lived, and he moved in with his maternal grandparents.

After graduating from Miller High School, Lipscomb did not attend college and instead served in the United States Marine Corps, where he was stationed at Camp Pendleton and played on the camp's football team. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Rams. He played for the Rams for three seasons, from 1953 to 1955, before being traded to the Baltimore Colts for five seasons. In two of the seasons he played for the Colts, 1958 and 1959, he earned a spot in the Pro Bowl, and was instrumental in the Colts' two consecutive NFL Championships in 1958 and 1959. He then went on to play for the Pittsburgh Steelers for two seasons. During the 1959–60 and 1960–61 off-seasons, Lipscomb worked as a professional wrestler.

The Professional Football Researchers Association named Lipscomb to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2006 [1]

In 2019, despite currently not being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was chosen as a finalist for the NFL’s 100th Anniversary Team [2]

On May 10, 1963, Lipscomb died of an overdose of heroin on Brice Street in Baltimore, Maryland, at the apartment of Timothy Black.[3]

• Davis, Kelcie "Gene Lipscomb 1931-1963", Blackpast Sports Bio, November 18, 2019

• Gene Lipscomb at Find a Grave