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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Hall of Famer
11/7/2007 | Football
By Chris Purser
Athletics Media Relations Student Assistant
At first glance, Gene Hickerson might not seem like a football player by today's standards. At 6-3, 250 pounds, he would be dwarfed by the college and pro football linemen of today. But it was not his physical size that made him such an outstanding player, it was his speed and his heart.
Hickerson, who was an All-Star lineman for the Rebels, was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame as a member of the 2007 class.
"He's my best friend," said Bobby Ray Franklin, a former Ole Miss quarterback. "We lived together and played together."
Hickerson, a native of Trezevant, Tenn., played running back in high school. He was overlooked by most college scouts, even Ole Miss.
"He played at a very small school," Franklin said. "The high school coaches kept bugging the Ole Miss coaches to come take a look at him. It was after the season had finished, and coach John Vaught and Tom Swayze (assistant coach) had scheduled a hunting trip, because they figured that there wasn't going to be anything to look at when they got there. Gene ran the 40 in something like a 4.6, so they weren't too terribly excited."
However, when the coaches arrived and saw the stature of the man standing in front of them, they changed their minds very quickly.
"They signed him on the spot," said Franklin. "Coach Vaught said they were going to make a place for him."
Hickerson redshirted his 1954 sophomore year in Oxford, before moving to tackle. Franklin says that it was the nature of Hickerson's size and speed that forced the coaches to move him.
"Back in those days, he was huge," Franklin said. "We didn't have weights. Our conditioning was running in the summer months. He was so big and strong that they moved him to tackle. He could use his speed and power to overcome anybody."
Franklin met Hickerson when he arrived at Ole Miss in 1956, and the two became fast friends.
"I was his freshman boy," said Franklin. "They had a ritual with all the freshmen coming in, and I was his. Later on, he was my right tackle, when I was quarterback. We played so many quarterbacks at that time, but he never let anyone touch us. He protected the quarterbacks like it was his life."
Hickerson would excel at his new position, playing in the 1958 Chicago All-Star game against the defending NFL Champion Detroit Lions.
"He really held his own against them," Franklin said. "I think that was when the rest of the teams in the NFL ranks paid attention."
Hickerson was drafted in the spring of 1957, just before his senior year, by the Cleveland Browns. He would spend the first few seasons as a messenger guard. Franklin eventually followed him to Cleveland when the Browns selected him in the 1960 NFL Draft.
"He was the guy that would give all the plays in the huddle," said Franklin. "He would go to the sidelines every other play and get the plays. Coach Paul Brown called the plays then he would deliver it to the quarterback. He needed some adjustment to that.
While at Cleveland, Hickerson spent the first three seasons of his professional career opening holes for future Hall of Fame running back Jim Brown. But, in the opening game of the preseason in 1961, tragedy struck Hickerson when he broke his leg. He re-injured the leg later in the season while watching from the sidelines.
"It kind of bothered him not being able to play," Franklin said.
After sitting out all of the 1961 season and the first two games of the 1962 season, Hickerson came back with a vengeance, never missing a game until he retired in 1973. He earned All-Pro honors four times (1966, 1968-1970), made the NFL Pro Bowl six years in a row (1966-1971), and won the NFL's Outstanding Blocker Award in 1968.
Despite an outstanding NFL career in which he blocked for Hall of Fame running backs Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell, Hickerson had to wait until this year to get elected.
"He was always close in the early years," Franklin said. "Then, as more and more players came around and guys started doing different things, he started to fall off. He was always on the ballot, but he never quite got enough votes to get elected. It was one of those things where it was a who-you-know' kind of deal. Sportswriters know a guy from everything he has done (statistics, etc.), but not the guy who helped them get there."
As the years went by, Hickerson never let it get him down, according to Franklin.
"You could tell it kind of bothered him a little bit," Franklin said. "But the thing with Gene is, he is soft-spoken. He wouldn't ever tell you it bothered him. He would just shrug his shoulders and shake his head."
Then, this year, as the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters took a look at their ballots, they noticed one player from back in the day that had been overlooked.
"They have a senior ballot," Franklin said. "They usually look at some senior players that deserve to get in but haven't yet. This year, they voted Gene in."
Franklin had the privilege of announcing Hickerson into this year's Hall of Fame class. While he says it was an honor to announce his longtime friend and former roommate, it is sad to know that Hickerson was not able to enjoy the moment as fully as he should have.
Deteriorating health issues have forced Hickerson to live in a nursing home. Still, Franklin says he would not have missed it for anything in the world.
"The ceremony is truly something special," Franklin said. "They have the third largest parade in the United States with over 4,000 volunteers to help out. When you walk around and see all the great players that are in Canton, you realize just how special the moment is."
From tiny Trezevant, Tenn., to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Hickerson will forever be enshrined as one of the greatest lineman of his time.
