Lance Cameron Gunn (born January 9, 1970) is an American former professional

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 back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who 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) and

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

Early life

Gunn grew up in an east suburb of

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. He attended North Shore High School in Cloverleaf, Texas, and played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

there.

College career

Gunn played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in Austin, Texas. He red-shirted his freshman year in 1988, then played three seasons for

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

David McWilliams (1989–91), and his senior season (1992) for head coach

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He was most recently the head coach of the Italy national American football team from 2014-2023, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Ma ...

. His sophomore season in 1990, Texas won the Southwest Conference and finished the regular season ranked No. 3. Gunn was a three-time All-SWC selection (1989–91) and named an All-American safety in 1992. College stats include 298 tackles (188 solo) and six QB sacks. He led the Longhorns in interceptions with five in 1991 and tied for the lead in blocked kicks in 1992. He graduated from UT in 1993 with a marketing degree. In 2011, Gunn was inducted into the Longhorn Hall of Honor.

Professional career

Gunn was drafted by

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

with the seventh pick of the seventh round of the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

. He played one season for the Bengals, starting eight games before being placed on the injured reserve list. He was then released by the Bengals at the end of camp in 1994. In 1995 he was signed by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

in the offseason, but then cut at the end of camp. In 1996, Gunn played for the Frankfurt Galaxy in the

league. The team went to

World Bowl '96 World Bowl '96 (also referred to as World Bowl IV) was the fourth championship game of the NFL Europe, World League of American Football (WLAF). It took place at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday, June 23, 1996. The 7–3 Scott ...

which he came into as a substitution; but even though he was the team's 5th leading tackler, he didn't record any stats in the game. His football career ended the following spring of 1997 after donating a kidney to his ailing father. In 1999 he signed to play with the Texas Terminators of the

Indoor Professional Football League The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner ...

but then opted to work for Frito Lay instead.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunn, Lance Living people 1970 births Players of American football from Missouri American football defensive backs Texas Longhorns football players Cincinnati Bengals players Frankfurt Galaxy players North Shore Senior High School (Texas) alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen New Orleans Saints players Indoor Professional Football League players