Dorne Allen Dibble (April 16, 1929 – March 1, 2018) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

wide receiver for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at For ...

(1951, 1953–1957). He attended

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

. Dibble was the Lions’ third-round draft pick in

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

after starring at Michigan State where he earned

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors as a

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

his senior year. The Lions converted him to receiver and the switch paid instant dividends. Dibble tied

Doak Walker Ewell Doak Walker II (January 1, 1927 – September 27, 1998) was an American football player. He played college football as a halfback at Southern Methodist University (SMU), where he won the Heisman Trophy in 1948. Walker then played profess ...

’s record for the most

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Americ ...

receptions by a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

with six TD catches in 1951. Dibble also set the Lions’ rookie record for yards per catch average that season at 20.4 – 30 catches for 613 yards. Dibble served the 1952 season in the military, but came back to star for the Lions from 1953–1957 and helped the Detroit win the

NFL Championship Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

s in 1953 and

1957 1957 (Roman numerals, MCMLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday, common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, t ...

. The Lions also went to the title game in 1954, the year Dibble led Detroit receivers and ranked fifth in the NFL with 46 receptions for 768 yards and six touchdowns. In his career, Dibble had 146 receptions for 2,552 yards – a 17.5 yards-per-catch average – and 19 TDs. Dibble died in

Northville, Michigan Northville is a city in Oakland and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 6,119 at the 2020 census. Northville is a suburb of Metro Detroit and is located about west of the city of Detroit and northeast of Ann Ar ...

on March 1, 2018 of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

at the age of 88.Dorne Dibble, Lions world champ, Michigan State All-American, dies at 88
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References

1929 births 2018 deaths People from Adrian, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football wide receivers Michigan State Spartans football players Detroit Lions players {{widereceiver-1920s-stub