Cookie Gilchrist

Cookie Gilchrist

Date of birth:	(1935-05-25)May 25, 1935
Place of birth:	Brackenridge, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Date of death:	January 10, 2011(2011-01-10) (aged 75)
Place of death:	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Career information
Position(s):	Fullback
Uniform number:	21, 34, 2, 30
College:	None
Organizations
As player:
1954 1955 1956–57 1958 1959–61 1962–64 1965, 1967 1966	ORFU Sarnia Imperials ORFU Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats CFL Saskatchewan Roughriders CFL Toronto Argonauts AFL Buffalo Bills AFL Denver Broncos AFL Miami Dolphins
Career highlights and awards
AFL All-Star:	1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
CFL All-Star:	1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960
Awards:	1960 Runner Up CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award 1962 AP, UPI AFL MVP, 2× AFL Rushing champion (1962, 1964)
Honors:	Grey Cup Champion 1957 American Football League Champion, 1964 All-Time All-AFL Fullback
Records:	Most rushing touchdowns, season, 13 (1962)
Career stats
Playing stats at DatabaseFootball.com

Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist (May 25, 1935 – January 10, 2011) was a gridiron football player in the American Football League and Canadian Football League.

Career

A star player at Har-Brack High School (Natrona Heights, Pa), in 1953 he led the team to the W.P.I.A.L. co-championship with Donora. As a junior, he was talked into signing a professional football contract with the NFL's Cleveland Browns by Paul Brown. The signing was against NFL rules and likely illegal, and when Brown reneged on his promise that Gilchrist would make the team, Gilchrist left training camp at Hiram College, in Hiram, Ohio, and went to Canada to play. There, in the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU), he received the Jim Shanks (Team MVP) Trophy for the Sarnia Imperials in 1954, and the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen's Team MVP Award in 1955.

In 1956, he joined the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, helping lead them to a 1957 Grey Cup victory. He spent one season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, rushing for 1,254 yards. He then was traded to the Toronto Argonauts for Tex Schwierer, and played three years in Toronto.^[1] In his six years in the CFL, Gilchrist was a divisional All-Star at running back five consecutive years from 1956 to 1960 (there were no All-Canadians selected in those years) and was also an Eastern All-Star at linebacker in 1960. Additionally, in 1960 he was runner up for the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award. In his CFL career, Gilchrist recorded 4,911 rushing yards, 1,068 receiving yards and 12 interceptions.

Gilchrist then joined the roster of the Buffalo Bills of the fledgling American Football League. Incidentally, Gilchrist was Buffalo's backup plan: they had actually drafted Ernie Davis to be the team's franchise running back in 1962. Davis instead chose the NFL, but died of leukemia before ever playing a down of professional football. The Bills instead signed Gilchrist as a free agent. While with Buffalo, Gilchrist played fullback and kicked, though he insisted he could have played both ways. He was the first 1,000-yard American Football League rusher, with 1,096 yards in a 14-game schedule in 1962. That year he set the all-time AFL record for touchdowns with 13, and he earned AFL MVP honors. Gilchrist rushed for a professional football record 243 yards and five touchdowns in a single game against the New York Jets in 1963. Though he was with the Bills for only three years (1962–1964), he remains the team's ninth-leading rusher all-time,^[2] and led the league in scoring in each of his three years as a Bill. Gilchrist ran for 122 yards in the Bills' 1964 American Football League championship defeat of the San Diego Chargers, 20-7. His 4.5 yard/rush average is second as a Bill only to O.J. Simpson.

In an early civil rights victory for black athletes, Gilchrist led a successful boycott of New Orleans as the site of the 1965 American Football League All-Star game. He is the only athlete to turn down being enshrined into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum, because of what he described as racism and exploitation by management. Gilchrist frequently was at odds with team management. He told a reporter from the London Free Press that most of the problems he encountered were a result of his standing up for principles at a time when black athletes were expected to remain silent.

Gilchrist also played for the Denver Broncos in 1965 and 1967, and for the Miami Dolphins in 1966. He was sent to the man who started his career, Paul Brown in the Cincinnati Bengals expansion draft in 1968, but retired because of knee problems. He was an American Football League All-Star in 1962, 1963, 1964 and 1965, making him one of only a few professional football players who made their league's All-Star team for 10 consecutive years (six in the CFL, and four in the AFL). Gilchrist was selected as the fullback of the All-Time American Football League Team.

Career regular season statistics

Team			Rushing					Receiving					Field Goals & Converts						Interceptions
Year	Team	GP	Rushes	Yards	Ave.	Lg	TD	Rec	Yards	Ave	Lg	TD	FG	Made	Ave.	S	Con	Good	Int	Yds	Ave	Lg	TD
1956	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	-	130	832	6.4	70	2	18	297	15.5	40	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	7	3.5	6	0
1957	Hamilton Tiger-Cats	-	204	958	4.7	57	7	8	82	10.3	19	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	65	21.7	55	2
1958	Saskatchewan Roughriders	-	235	1254	5.3	73	5	15	144	9.6	41	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1959	Toronto Argonauts	-	87	496	5.7	69	4	5	70	14.0	38	1	14	9	64.3	0	24	16	4	66	16.5	32	0
1960	Toronto Argonauts	14	88	662	7.5	74	6	25	346	13.8	42	2	18	5	27.8	0	48	43	1	16	16.0	16	0
1961	Toronto Argonauts	12	105	709	6.8	67	3	15	147	9.8	24	0	9	5	55.6	3	11	5	2	41	20.5	35	0
1962	Buffalo Bills	14	214	1096	5.1	44	13	24	319	13.3	76	2	20	8	40	0	17	14	0	0	0	0	0
1963	Buffalo Bills	14	232	979	4.2	32	12	24	211	8.8	42	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1964	Buffalo Bills	14	230	981	4.3	67	6	30	345	11.5	37	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1965	Denver Broncos	14	252	954	3.8	44	6	18	154	8.6	29	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1966	Miami Dolphins	8	72	262	3.6	22	0	13	110	8.5	22	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
1967	Denver Broncos	1	10	21	2.1	6	0	1	-4	-4.0	-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	CFL Totals	-	849	4911	5.8	74	28	86	1068	12.4	42	5	41	19	46.3	4	83	64	12	195	16.3	55	2
	AFL Totals	65	1010	4293	4.3	67	37	110	1135	10.3	76	6	20	8	40.0	0	17	14	0	0	0	0	0
	Career Totals	-	1859	9204	5.0	74	65	196	2203	11.2	76	11	61	27	44.3	4	100	78	12	195	16.3	55	2

After football

Gilchrist had numerous feuds with the people he worked with during his football career. He refused entry into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame on account that he did not believe he was paid well enough for his service.^[3][4] He also refused to accept enshrinement on the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame because he wanted payment for appearing; Van Miller eventually convinced Gilchrist to change his mind, but Gilchrist was not inducted prior to his death.^[5] Gilchrist was posthumously inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2011.^[6]

In an article in The Buffalo News on March 18, 2007, Gilchrist, then 71, announced that he was being treated for throat cancer. At the time, he lived in Natrona Heights, Pennsylvania.

On January 10, 2011, Gilchrist died at an assisted living facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^{[3] [7]} Gilchrist was posthumously diagnosed with stage four Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, which may explain, in part, some of his behavioural difficulties.^[4] Gilchrist was aware of the possibility that he had the disease when writing his autobiography, The Cookie That Did Not Crumble, along with Chris Garbarino. Consequently, he donated his brain to the Canadian Sports Concussion Project for use in their study of CTE.

Honors

• First American Football League player to gain over 1,000 yards in a season (14 games, 1,096 yards in 1962)
• Previously held the American professional football record for most yards rushing in a game, 243 yards vs. the New York Jets, on December 8, 1963.
• His number 34 has been unofficially set aside by the Buffalo Bills, to honor both him and Thurman Thomas, who also wore the number.^[8]
• Honored by the Professional Football Researchers Association's “Hall of Very Good,” a collection of outstanding professional football players not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, as part of its 2013 class.^[9]

See also

• List of American Football League players

References

External links

• Cookie Gilchrist's Official Website Maintained By The Gilchrist Family
• Obituary from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
• Cookie Gilchrist's CFL statistics
• Cookie Gilchrist at Pro-Football-Reference.com

Preceded by George Blanda	American Football League MVP 1962 with Len Dawson	Succeeded by Lance Alworth, Clem Daniels, & Tobin Rote
Preceded by Billy Cannon	American Football League Rushing Leader 1962 (14 games) 1,096 yds, 5.1 yds/att	Succeeded by Clem Daniels
Preceded by Clem Daniels	American Football League Rushing Leader 1964 (14 games) 981 yds, 4.3 yds/att	Succeeded by Paul Lowe

Hamilton Tiger-Cats 45th Grey Cup Champions Harvey Achziger George Arnett John Barrow Bibbles Bawel Eddie Bevan Gordon Chiarot Tony Curcillo Art Darch Jack Davis Bob Dawson Paul Dekker Geno DeNobile Tom Dimmick Bernie Faloney John Fedosoff Cam Fraser Cookie Gilchrist Ralph Goldston Bob Golic Bill Graham Tommy Grant James Hinesly Ron Howell Jim Hughes Zeno Karcz Zollie Kovacs Hal Krebs Harry Lampman Harry Lee Joe Lukas Eddie Macon Gerry McDougall Chet Miksza George Momberg Pete Neumann Hal Newton Jim Norman Steve Oneschuk Zeke Pusteinick Vince Scott Dave Suminski Ralph Toohy Ray Truant P. W. Underwood Hal Waggoner Jerry Zaliski Head coach: Jim Trimble Assistants: Ralph Sazio * Jack Jacobs * George Terlep

Most Outstanding Player Award in the CFL Eastern Conference 1957: Patterson 1958: Shatto 1959: Faloney 1960: Gilchrist 1961: Faloney 1962: Dixon 1963: Jackson 1964: Shatto 1965: Henley 1966: Jackson 1967: Coffey 1968: Symons 1969: Jackson 1970: Coffey 1971: McQuay 1972: Henley 1973: Harvey 1974: Rodgers 1975: Rodgers 1976: Edwards 1977: Edwards 1978: Gabriel 1979: Green 1980: Dattilio 1981: Clements 1982: Holloway 1983: Greer 1984: Crawford 1985: Hobart 1986: Hood 1987: Clements 1988: Winfield 1989: Champion 1990: Clemons 1991: Mimbs 1992: Snipes 1993: Dunigan 1994: Pringle 1995: Pringle 1996: Flutie 1997: Flutie 1998: Pringle 1999: McManus 2000: Pringle 2001: Jones 2002: Calvillo 2003: Calvillo 2004: Calvillo 2005: Allen 2006: Roberts 2007: Glenn 2008: Calvillo 2009: Calvillo 2010: Calvillo 2011: Calvillo 2012: Owens 2013: Ray 2014: Ray

Buffalo Bills 1964 AFL Champions Ray Abruzzese Joe Auer Stew Barber Glenn Bass Dave Behrman Al Bemiller Butch Byrd Wray Carlton Hagood Clarke Walt Cudzik Tom Day Ollie Dobbins Elbert Dubenion Jim Dunaway Booker Edgerson George Flint Cookie Gilchrist Pete Gogolak Bill Groman Dick Hudson Harry Jacobs Tom Keating Jack Kemp Daryle Lamonica Paul Maguire Ron McDole Dudley Meredith Joe O'Donnell Hatch Rosdahl Willie Ross Ed Rutkowski George Saimes Tom Sestak Billy Shaw Bobby Smith Mike Stratton Gene Sykes John Tracey Ernie Warlick Charley Warner Head Coach: Lou Saban Assistant Coaches: Joe Collier John Mazur Jerry Smith

Miami Dolphins 1966 inaugural season roster Joe Auer Mel Branch Bob Bruggers Whit Canale Rick Casares George Chesser Ed Cooke Bill Cronin Al Dotson Frank Emanuel Tom Erlandson Norm Evans Earl Faison Cookie Gilchrist Tom Goode Jim Higgins Johnny Holmes Mike Hudock Billy Hunter Frank Jackson Pete Jaquess Billy Joe Dave Kocourek Wes Matthews Wahoo McDaniel John McGeever Gene Mingo Stan Mitchell Doug Moreau Bob Neff Billy Neighbors Tom Nomina Karl Noonan Rick Norton Ernie Park Bob Petrella Sammy Price Ken Rice Bo Roberson John Roderick Jack Rudolph John Stofa Jack Thornton LaVerne Torczon Howard Twilley Hal Wantland Jimmy Warren Willie West Dick Westmoreland Maxie Williams George Wilson Dick Wood Rich Zecher Head Coach: George Wilson

American Football League All-Time Team Joe Namath Clem Daniels Paul Lowe Lance Alworth Cookie Gilchrist Don Maynard Fred Arbanas Jim Otto Ed Budde Billy Shaw Ron Mix Jim Tyrer George Blanda Nick Buoniconti Bobby Bell George Webster Johnny Robinson George Saimes Willie Brown Dave Grayson Houston Antwine Tom Sestak Jerry Mays Gerry Philbin Jerrel Wilson Weeb Ewbank