(BFL) Buffalo, N.Y., Dec. 18 — HIGH STEPPER — Cookie Gilchrist, 27-year-old fullback of the Buffalo Bills, shows how he gained more than 1,000 yards this season — a feat that helped him to be chosen player-of-the-year in the American Football League. His selection, announced today, was made by an Associated Press committee of writers and broadcasters. (AP Wirephoto)
Hi Todd,
Have you ever been in contact with former Charger, UCLA Bruin and Long Beach Poly’s Gerry McDougall? Honestly I had never heard of him prior to your blog, I discovered him by accident looking up information on different players to write of.
Gerry and Cookie were both born in 1935 the same as the first two picks in the 1957 NFL Draft Paul Hornung and Jon Arnett, the thing Gerry and Cookie had in common was size both 6’3″, Gerry 230 and Cookie over 250. In 1957 they teamed together with the Hamilton Tiger Cats, Cookie rushing for 958 yards and Gerry over 1050. In 1958 Cookie was dealt to Saskatchewan and both rushed for over a 1000 yards, Cookie 1254. In 1962 at the prime age of 27, both men returned to gridirons on opposite ends of US soil.
Cookie never attended college.Paul Brown ,coach and owner of the Cleveland Browns, had him in for a tryout after high school.If Cookie and Jim Brown were in the same backfield,the quaterback’s arm would have been well rested.
Cookie Gilchrist was clearly a dominant all around player of his era….When you examine his body of work in both the CFL & AFL in the context of his time there is no doubt he belongs in the “Pro Football Hall of Fame”…Additionally, his stance on civil rights at the 1965 All Star game in New Orleans transcended the game ….With the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 nearing it would be fitting that Cookie Gilchrist be rightfully enshrined in the HOF instead of remaining a legend of mythical proportions from two leagues….
Yet another overlooked early AFL star
I first heard and read about Cookie Gilchrist as a kid in the late ’70’s. He may be overlooked, but he hasn’t been forgotten. He gets my vote for The Hall of Fame.
An excellent account of the 1965 AFL All-Star Episode in New Orleans, as well as Cookie’s leadership role in the incident, can be found in Jeff Miller’s book on the AFL, titled Going Long.
A look at Cookies years in the CFL reveal in 1956 in Hamilton he teamed with Quarterback Ronnie Knox in Hamilton and again with Ronnie in 1959 in Toronto. After 1959 Ronnie swore off football for good.
The web site: On Screen-Scientist “Ronnie Knox Rest In Peace”, fills in some of the missing years of a man, born in 1935, the same as Jon Arnett, Paul Hornung, Len Dawson, Cookie Gilchrist, Lionel Taylor, Charlie Hennigan, John Brodie, Sonny Jugensen, Don Maynard, Tommy McDonald and even Lee Corso and LaJolla’s own Art Luppino. The likes of Ronnie who wrest a life away from an over bearing step father, or a story that was Ronnies alone, will never be known and the truth behind 1950’s ” Golden Boy” and self described “Noble savage, Ronnie Knox, will never be fully told. In 1960 Sid Gilman after searching for six weeks found Ronnie living, according to Gilman ” In a dump at the beach”. Gilman desperately wanted Ronnie to be his first Chargers QB, and in a 1986 interview said “Ronnie was the John Elway of his day”.
Covina High School’s Jim Hanifan who with Gerry McDougall teamed at UCLA with Ronnie Knox, writes in his 2003 memoir tiltled “Beyond Xs and Os” “My Thirty Years in the NFL.” Ronnie Knox died homeless.
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&sugexp=les%3B&gs_rn=2&gs_ri=hp&cp=10&gs_id=14&xhr=t&q=cookie+gilchrist&es_nrs=true&pf=p&tbo=d&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&rlz=1W1MXGB_enUS509&oq=cookie+gil&gs_l=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&bvm=bv.41867550,d.dmQ&fp=20c4163a263cdd37&biw=1280&bih=868
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