View source for Harry Gilmer

{{Short description|American football player (1926–2016)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox NFL biography
| name         = Harry Gilmer
| image        = Harry Gilmer - 1948 Bowman.jpg
| caption      = Gilmer on a 1948 [[Bowman Gum|Bowman]]<!-- football --> card
| number       = 52, 12
| position     = [[Quarterback]]<br />[[Halfback (American football)|Halfback]]<br />[[Defensive back]]
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1926|4|14|mf=y}}
| birth_place  = [[Birmingham, Alabama]], U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|2016|8|20|1926|4|14|mf=y}}
| death_place  = [[St. Louis, Missouri]], U.S.
| height_ft    = 6
| height_in    = 0
| weight_lb    = 169
| high_school  = [[Woodlawn High School (Birmingham, Alabama)|Birmingham (AL) Woodlawn]]
| college      = [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|Alabama]]
| draftyear    = 1948
| draftround   = 1
| draftpick    = 1
| pastteams    = 
* [[Washington Commanders|Washington Redskins]] ({{NFL Year|1948|1954}})
* [[Detroit Lions]] ({{NFL Year|1955|1956}})
| pastcoaching = 
* [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] ({{NFL Year|1957|1960}}) <br> Assistant
* [[Minnesota Vikings]] ({{NFL Year|1961|1964}}) <br> Assistant
* Detroit Lions ({{NFL Year|1965|1966}}) <br> Head coach
| highlights   = 
* 2× [[Pro Bowl]] ([[1951 Pro Bowl|1950]], [[1953 Pro Bowl|1952]])
* First-team [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1945 College Football All-America Team|1945]])
* Second-team All-American ([[1947 College Football All-America Team|1947]])
* Third-team All-American ([[1946 College Football All-America Team|1946]])
* [[Southeastern Conference football individual awards#Player of the Year|SEC Player of the Year]] (1945)
* 4× First-team [[List of All-SEC football teams|All-SEC]] ([[1944 All-SEC football team|1944]], [[1945 All-SEC football team|1945]], [[1946 All-SEC football team|1946]], [[1947 All-SEC football team|1947]])
* [[Rose Bowl (game)#Game results|1946 Rose Bowl]] [[Rose Bowl (game)#Rose Bowl Player of the Game Awards|MVP]]
* [[Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]] (1973)<ref name=alabamahof>{{cite web | work = Alabama Sports Hall of Fame | url = http://ashof.org/index.php?src=directory&view=company&srctype=detail&refno=119&category=Football | title = Harry Gilmer's Alabama Sports HOF Profile | access-date = August 15, 2008}}</ref>
| statlabel1   = Passing yards
| statvalue1   = 3,786
| statlabel2   = [[Touchdown|TD]]-[[Interception|INT]]
| statvalue2   = 23-45
| statlabel3   = [[Passer rating]]
| statvalue3   = 48.0
| statlabel4   = Rushing yards
| statvalue4   = 923
| statlabel5   = Rushing average
| statvalue5   = 4.6
| statlabel6   = Defensive interceptions
| statvalue6   = 5
| pfr          = GilmHa00
| pfrcoach     = GilmHa0
| CollegeHOF   = 1667
}}

'''Harry Vincent Gilmer Jr.''' (April 14, 1926 – August 20, 2016) was an American professional [[American football|football]] [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] and [[quarterback]] in the [[National Football League]] (NFL) for the [[Washington Commanders|Washington Redskins]] and [[Detroit Lions]].  He was inducted into the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1993.

==Early life==
Born in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], Gilmer attended and played [[high school football]] at its [[Woodlawn High School (Birmingham, Alabama)|Woodlawn High School]].<ref name=collegefootballhof>{{College Football HoF|id=1667|name=Harry Gilmer|access-date=August 14, 2008}}</ref> He&nbsp;often utilized the technique of leaping high into the air to pass the ball because, as a child, he often played pickup games with teammates who were much older and thus taller than he was; Gilmer was then one of the first players to popularize the "jump pass" when he continued using the technique at the collegiate level.<ref>Groom, 2000, p. 79.</ref>

==College career==
After high school, Gilmer played [[college football]] at the [[Alabama Crimson Tide football|University of Alabama]], where he was the left [[Halfback (American football)|halfback]] from [[1944 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|1944]] to [[1947 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|1947]].  As a freshman, he was 8 for 8 in passing attempts during a loss against [[1944 Duke Blue Devils football team|Duke University]] in the [[1945 Sugar Bowl|Sugar Bowl]].<ref name=collegefootballhof />  Gilmer's best year was his sophomore season, when he led the nation in touchdown passes–thirteen–and he ran for nine touchdowns. He had 79 rushing attempts with an average gain of 7.0 yards and a passing percentage of .648 on 88 attempts.  His total offense, 1,457 yards, was second in the nation.<ref name=collegefootballhof />  Gilmer also spent time as a [[Punter (American football)|punter]] and [[kickoff returner]] and, in his junior year, he returned 37 punts; his average, 14.5 yards, led the nation.<ref name=collegefootballhof />

During the [[1945 Alabama Crimson Tide football team|1945]] season, Gilmer led Alabama to the [[1946 Rose Bowl|Rose Bowl]], where they beat the [[1945 USC Trojans football team|University of Southern California]] 34–14. In his career, Gilmer passed for 26 touchdowns and ran for 24.  He passed for 2,894 yards and rushed for 1,673. His punting average was 36.4 yards. He averaged 28.7 yards on kickoff returns, 13.5 on punt returns.<ref name=collegefootballhof /> He twice finished fifth in the voting for the [[Heisman Trophy]] in both 1945 and 1947.

==Professional career==
Gilmer was the first overall pick in the [[1948 NFL draft]], selected by the [[1948 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]], where he played from [[1948 Washington Redskins season|1948]] to [[1954 Washington Redskins season|1954]].  He then was traded to the [[1955 Detroit Lions season|Detroit Lions]] for [[Bert Zagers]] and Bob Trout, where he played in [[1955 Detroit Lions season|1955]] and [[1956 Detroit Lions season|1956]] under head coach [[Buddy Parker]].

==Later life and death==
After retiring as a player, Gilmer became an assistant coach with the [[1957 Pittsburgh Steelers season|Pittsburgh Steelers]] under Parker in [[1957 Pittsburgh Steelers season|1957]].<ref name=collegefootballhof /><ref name=lskaid>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fsEbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=M08EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5408%2C2325643 |work=Pittsburgh Press |agency=UPI |title=Gilmer seeks Lions aides |date=January 8, 1965 |page=32}}</ref> After four years there and four with the [[1964 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]] under [[Norm Van Brocklin]], he succeeded [[George Wilson (American football coach)|George Wilson]] as Lions [[head coach]] in January [[1965 Detroit Lions season|1965]].<ref name=lskaid/><ref name=lpglm>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2ThWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9OgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2977%2C2022338 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lions pick Gilmer as new grid boss |date=January 8, 1965 |page=12}}</ref><ref name=owsa>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=PnMiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=sKsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=970%2C630898 |work=Owosso Argus-Press |location=(Michigan) |agency=Associated Press |title=Gilmer new Lions coach |date=January 8, 1965 |page=9}}</ref> His two-year record of {{winpct|10|16|2|record=y}} included a 4&ndash;9&ndash;1 [[1966 Detroit Lions season|1966]] campaign.<ref name="moharadetlions">[https://www.detroitlions.com/news/o-hara-remembering-jim-gibbons-and-harry-gilmer-17542875 O'Hara, Mike. "Remembering Jim Gibbons and Harry Gilmer," Detroit Lions, Tuesday, August 23, 2016.] Retrieved November 24, 2020</ref> His unpopularity with Lions fans reached a climax after a 28&ndash;16 loss to the [[1966 Minnesota Vikings season|Minnesota Vikings]] at [[Tiger Stadium (Detroit)|Tiger Stadium]] in the regular season finale on December 11,<!-- 1966--> when he was pelted with [[snowball]]s while exiting the field.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1817&dat=19661212&id=_-ohAAAAIBAJ&sjid=K5sEAAAAIBAJ&pg=733,2865360 "Gilmer Peppered with Snowballs after Loss" (wirephoto), ''The Associated Press'' (AP), Monday, December 12, 1966.] Retrieved November 24, 2020</ref> He was fired in early January 1967,<ref name=fofir>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w8ZaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=lWwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5754%2C1153481 |work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |agency=Associated Press |title=Ford fires Gilmer as Detroit Lions' coach |date=January 7, 1967 |page=12}}</ref> succeeded by assistant coach [[Joe Schmidt (American football)|Joe Schmidt]].<ref name="moharadetlions"/><ref name=lnss>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8DhWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7ugDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2967%2C3195644 |work=Spokesman-Review |location=(Spokane, Washington) |agency=Associated Press |title=Lions name Joe Schmidt |date=January 12, 1967 |page=17}}</ref><ref name=sgrebl>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g4gbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=HFEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2307%2C4049749 |work=Pittsburgh Press |agency=UPI |title=Schmidt's goal; rebuild Lions |date=January 12, 1967 |page=30}}</ref>

Gilmer was inducted into the [[Alabama Sports Hall of Fame]] in 1973<ref name=alabamahof /> and the [[College Football Hall of Fame]] in 1993.  In 1999, ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'' named him the 37th greatest Alabama sports figure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/states/alabama/greatest/|title=The 50 Greatest Alabama Sports Figures|date=December 27, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030718015357/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/features/si50/states/alabama/greatest/|archive-date=July 18, 2003|work=Sports Illustrated|access-date=August 15, 2008}}</ref> Gilmer died on August 20, 2016, at the age of 90.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20160820/NEWS/160829992/1015/sports?Title=CECIL-HURT-Harry-Gilmer-was-a-Tide-superstar|title=Harry Gilmer was a Tide superstar|last=Hurt|first=Cecil|date=August 20, 2016|work=Tuscaloosa News|access-date=April 8, 2017|language=en}}</ref> Until his death, he lived in [[St. Louis, Missouri|St. Louis]]<ref name=alabamahof /> along with his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

==See also==
* [[List of NCAA major college yearly punt and kickoff return leaders]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Sources ==
* Groom, Winston. ''The Crimson Tide – An Illustrated History''. Tuscaloosa: The University of Alabama Press, 2000. {{ISBN|0-8173-1051-7}}.

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* {{CollegeFootballHOF|1667}}
* {{Footballstats |pfr=G/GilmHa00}}
* [https://www.footballcardgallery.com/player/gilmha00/harry-gilmer-football-cards/ Gallery of Harry Gilmer football cards]

{{Navboxes
| title = Harry Gilmer—awards, championships, and honors
| list =
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{{Southeastern Conference Football Player of the Year navbox}}
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}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmer, Harry}}
[[Category:1926 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:American football halfbacks]]
[[Category:American football quarterbacks]]
[[Category:Alabama Crimson Tide football players]]
[[Category:Atlanta Falcons coaches]]
[[Category:College Football Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Detroit Lions head coaches]]
[[Category:Detroit Lions players]]
[[Category:Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players]]
[[Category:First overall NFL draft picks]]
[[Category:Washington Redskins players]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama]]