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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Great & Hall Of Famer Gene Hickerson Passes Away
10/20/2008 | Football
CLEVELAND, OH Ole Miss and the National Football League lost one of its football greats here Monday with the passing of Gene Hickerson, 72, following a lengthy illness.
Visitation is set for Wednesday from 1 to 8 p.m. CDT at McGorray and Hanna Funeral Home, 25620 Center Ridge Road, West Lake, Ohio. A private family service will be held Thursday at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Interment will be at Elmhurst Park Cemetery, Avon.
Hickerson, who played 15 seasons for the Cleveland Browns as the lead blocker for three Hall of Famers -- Jim Brown, Leroy Kelly and Bobby Mitchell -- was a member of the 2007 Pro Football Hall of Fame class when he joined tackle Frank M. “Bruiser” Kinard as the only players from Ole Miss to be enshrined in Canton, Ohio. Kinard was inducted in 1970.
While earning three letters at Ole Miss, Hickerson served as co-captain in 1957 when he was a consensus All-Southeastern Conference and All-South choice. He helped lead Coach John Vaught’s Rebels to the 1955 SEC title and a 1956 Cotton Bowl win over TCU, plus a 39-7 victory over Texas in the 1958 Sugar Bowl. During his three varsity seasons, Ole Miss finished 10-1, 7-3 and 9-1-1.
Hickerson, who was voted to the All-Time Sugar Bowl Team and played in the Senior Bowl and the Chicago All-Star game, was voted by the Ole Miss fans to the Team of the Century (1893 - 1992) in 1993. He was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in 1979 and the Ole Miss Sports Hall of Fame in 1988.
Following his career at Ole Miss, Hickerson was drafted in the seventh round by the Cleveland Browns and went on to play in the NFL from 1958 to 1973. A tailback in high school who became a tackle at the University of Mississippi, Hickerson was shifted to guard in 1958 and went from delivering plays to the huddle to establishing himself as a lead blocker for Brown, Mitchell and Kelly.
After just three NFL seasons, Hickerson's career was slowed when he suffered a broken leg in the 1961 pre-season opener. He sat out two games in 1962, but never missed another game for the remainder of his career. When he retired after the 1973 season, Hickerson had played in 202 NFL games.
He earned first-team All-NFL acclaim five straight seasons (1966-1970) and was voted to
six consecutive Pro Bowls from 1966 to 1971. The Browns featured a 1,000-yard rusher in every season but one during Hickerson's first 10 pro seasons. He received the NFL Outstanding Blocker Award in 1968. When the NFL, in conjunction with its 50th anniversary, named its All-Sixties team, Hickerson was one of the decade’s all-star guards.
According to Total Football II, The Official Encyclopedia of the National Football League, “Hickerson had a great combination of speed, power, durability and athletic ability. Few offensive linemen performed at the level and quality he did for so long a period of time.”
He is survived by one son, Bob Hickerson (wife Eileen) and one daughter, Nancy Mates (husband Mike); grandfather of Caitlin and Clifton Hickerson; Michael and Lucas Mates; dear friend of Jimmy, Mimi, Alana, Michael and Baba Hall; brother of Willie, Oliver, Christine Cagle and Luedean Thetford and the following deceased: Myrtle Davis, Gladys Self, Ernie, Allen, Bonnie May, Arnold, Roy, Hollis, Dolly and Marshall; son of the late Daniel and Mary. At the request of the family, memorial contributions should be made to Memory Care Fund, in c/o Kemper House, 25880 Elm St., Olmsted Falls, OH 44138.
