Isaac "Ike" Thomas Lassiter (November 15, 1940 – February 15, 2015) was an American

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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 formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

who played in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL) for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

and the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

, where he was an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

in 1966. He then played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) with the

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

for two seasons. He finally played in the

World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...

(WFL) with the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. They were members of the Are ...

for one year.

Professional career

He played as the starting left defensive end in

Super Bowl II The second AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super Bowl II) was an American football game played on January 14, 1968, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. The National Football League (NFL)'s defending champion Green Ba ...

for the 1967 Raiders. In the 1967 regular season on a Raiders team with a won–lost record of 13–1, he was one of the main pass-rushers of a front four including

Dan Birdwell Dan Birdwell (October 14, 1940 – February 14, 1978) was an American college and professional football player. A defensive lineman, he played collegiately for the University of Houston and professionally for the Oakland Raiders of the American ...

Tom Keating Thomas Patrick Keating (1 March 1917 – 12 February 1984) was an English artist, art restoration, art restorer and Art forgery, art forger. Considered the most prolific and versatile art forger of the 20th century, he claimed to have faked mo ...

, and

Ben Davidson Benjamin Earl Davidson (June 14, 1940 – July 2, 2012) was an American professional football player who was a defensive end, primarily with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL). He was a three-time AFL All-Star with the ...

with a combined league-leading total of 67 sacks and 665 yards lost, the latter an all-time record, the all-time record for sacks being 72, done in a 16-game season, the Raiders leading the league in sacks from 1966 to 1968, an all-time record. He ended his NFL career with the

in 1970 and 1971. Lassiter was traded to the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

in 1972, but did not make the team. He sat out the next two seasons, but played for the

in 1974 in the

Personal life

He attended St. Augustine's College, where he received a bachelor's degree in physical education.

Death

He retired to Oakland, California and died on February 15, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassiter, Ike 1940 births 2015 deaths American football defensive ends Boston Patriots players Denver Broncos (AFL) players New England Patriots players Oakland Raiders players Jacksonville Sharks (WFL) players St. Augustine's Falcons football players American Football League All-Star players Sportspeople from Wilson, North Carolina American Football League players

Professional career

Personal life

Death

See also

References