Abe Gibron
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| Regular Season | Playoffs | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | W | L | T | PCT | W | L |
| 1972 | 4 | 9 | 1 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| 1973 | 3 | 11 | 0 | .214 | 0 | 0 |
| 1974 | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 11 | 30 | 1 | .262 | 0 | 0 |
Born: September 22, 1925 in Michigan City, IN
Died: September 23, 1997 in Belleair, FL
Abe Gibron became the Chicago Bears 7th head coach in 1972. Gibron was promoted to the post after seven years as a Bears assistant. Gibron was an animated coach who is dubiously remembered in an NFL films version of “Football Follies.” Gibron was filmed during a game looking distracted, uninterested, and continually singing “Joy to the World” by the then popular band The Three Dog Night.
After his firing from the Bears, Gibron was Head Coach of the WFL Chicago Winds in 1975. The NFL expanded in 1976 with two new franchises, Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gibron served as Defensive Line Coach for the Bucs 1976 to 1984. At the announcement of his death, Buccaneer GM Rich McKay said, “Abe Gibron was not only a fine football coach, he was also one of the National Football League's finest gentlemen. We have lost one of football's most recognizable figures. We will all miss Abe."
Coaching Career
• 1972-1974—Chicago Bears Head Coach.
• 1965-1971—Chicago Bears Assistant Coach
Playing Career
Signed away from the NFL, the Buffalo franchise of the All American Football Conference (AAFC) promptly folded. All college seniors who where signed in 1949 were placed in a general pool of players from which the NFL teams would select them. Gibron was drafted by the NY Giants in the sixth round originally.
Gibron was referred to as one of the three of four best offensive guards in the 1950s as his being named All-Pro four times (1952-1955) and was named All-NFL by the United Press in 1955. He played in six straight championship games with Cleveland where they won three titles.
• 1949-1959—Cleveland Browns Offensive Guard where they played in six straight championship games, winning three.
• 1949—Buffalo (AAFC) Offensive Guard. Buffalo signed Gibron but then folded and merged with the NFL. Gibron was placed in a “supplimental” draft and was taken by Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns.
• 1945-1948—Purdue University Offensive Guard
