Peter Gent
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George Davis Peter Gent ( ; August 23, 1942 – September 30, 2011) was a
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
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) for the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
. He became a novelist after his retirement, authoring the best-seller '' North Dallas Forty''. He played
college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...
at
Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...
.


Early life

Gent attended Bangor High School in Michigan, where he was a standout four-sport athlete (
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 ...
,
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
,
baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...
and track). In
basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
he led the Bangor Vikings team to the 1960 state Class C Championship, while accumulating a 22.6 scoring average. The team was known as the Cardiac Kids for their late-game wins in District, Regional, Quarter-Final and Semi-Final games. The final game against top-ranked Grand Rapids Lee was no exception: it was tied 41–41 after three quarters and Bangor went on to win 57–45. Gent led the team with 21 points, and was named to the All-Tourney Team which was chosen from schools of all sizes throughout the state.


College career

Gent was a center/ forward with the Michigan State
basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...
from 1962 to 1964. He became the first Spartan to lead the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons. In his senior year, Gent averaged 21 points per game, and left as MSU's second career scorer, with a total of 1,146 points, averaging 17.4 points per game. He was third team All-
Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives in 1 ...
in 1963 and second team in 1964. In 1964, Gent was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor, which is given annually to a male and female athlete at each of the Big Ten institutions, who demonstrates the greatest proficiency in scholarship and athletics. He graduated from MSU with a BA in advertising. Gent was the recipient of the 2005 Distinguished Alumnus Award.


Professional football career


Dallas Cowboys

Although Gent never played a down of
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 ...
, the
Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
were impressed by his athleticism and offered him a tryout. He went to training camp in the summer of
1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...
to receive the $500 they were paying to players who attended. As with Cornell Green whom the team had converted two years earlier, he was first tried at
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 ...
, but at and , he was not agile enough to play in the secondary. The coaches decided that Gent's best chance was at
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
, where he wound up making the team and turning down a contract offer from the NBA's Baltimore Bullets, who had selected him in the fourteenth round of the 1964 NBA draft. Gent became a valuable wide receiver by his second year in
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lynd ...
, splitting time with Buddy Dial and playing opposite
Bob Hayes Robert Lee Hayes (December 20, 1942 – September 18, 2002), nicknamed "Bullet Bob", was an American sprinter and professional football player. After winning gold medals at the 1964 Summer Olympics, he played as a split end in the National F ...
. He caught sixteen passes for 233 yards and two
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
s. In
1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...
, he had ten starts over Dial, registering 27 receptions (third on the team) for 474 yards (averaging 17.6 yard per catch) and one
touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...
as the Cowboys won their first division title ( Eastern Conference) to qualify for the
NFL championship game 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 ...
, but lost to the
Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
at the Cotton Bowl. In
1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...
, with the arrival of
Lance Rentzel Thomas Lance Rentzel (born October 14, 1943) is an American former professional football player who was a flanker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Rams. He played college football ...
and health problems, Gent was moved to
tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...
and played in only seven games (one start). In 
1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
, he played in ten games (one start), posting sixteen receptions for 194 yards. Gent's five-season NFL career was marred by injury, as he underwent knee operations and endured constant back problems. He was known for his intelligence, soft hands, and height. He caught passes mostly from
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
Don Meredith, with whom he enjoyed a close friendship off the field.


New York Giants

On June 13,
1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...
, Gent was traded to the
New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...
in exchange for a draft choice (not exercised), and
waived A waiver is the voluntary relinquishment or surrender of some known right or privilege. A waiver is often written, such as a disclaimer that has been accepted, but it may also be spoken between two or more parties. When the right to hold a p ...
on September 8.


Writing career

After leaving 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 ...
, Gent wrote several novels dealing with the sport. His first and most famous book, a semi-autobiographical novel entitled ''North Dallas Forty'', was published in 1973. Its main characters, a
quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...
and a
wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...
, are widely considered to be based on Don Meredith and Gent, respectively. The novel was one of the first to examine the NFL's hypocrisy regarding drug use. ''North Dallas Forty'' was made into a movie of the same name in 1979 starring
Nick Nolte Nicholas King Nolte (; born February 8, 1941) is an American actor. Known for his leading man roles in both dramas and romances, he has received a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for three Academy Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. Nol ...
,
Mac Davis Morris Mac Davis (January 21, 1942 – September 29, 2020) was an American songwriter, singer, performer, and actor. A native of Lubbock, Texas, he enjoyed success as a crossover artist and writing for Elvis Presley during his early career, pro ...
, G. D. Spradlin, and Dayle Haddon. Gent wrote the
screenplay A screenplay, or script, is a written work produced for a film, television show (also known as a '' teleplay''), or video game by screenwriters (cf. ''stage play''). Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of w ...
for the film. During the making of the film, he experienced creative difficulties with producer
Frank Yablans Frank Yablans (August 27, 1935 – November 27, 2014) was an American studio executive, film producer, and screenwriter. Yablans served as an executive at Paramount Pictures, including President of the studio, in the 1960s and 1970s. Early life ...
. After seeing the movie, his old friend and teammate Meredith commented, "If I'd known Gent was as good as he says he was, I would have thrown to him more." Gent made his home in Texas for many years, where he befriended many of that state's significant creative minds of the day, including
Larry L. King Lawrence Leo King (January 1, 1929 – December 20, 2012) was an American playwright, journalist, and novelist, best remembered for his 1978 Tony Award, Tony Award-nominated play ''The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas'', which became a long-runni ...
, Billy Lee Brammer, Gary Cartwright, Bud Shrake,
Jerry Jeff Walker Jerry Jeff Walker (born Ronald Clyde Crosby; March 16, 1942 – October 23, 2020) was an American country and folk singer-songwriter. He was a leading figure in the progressive country and outlaw country music movement. He also wrote t ...
, and
Dan Jenkins Daniel Thomas Jenkins (December 2, 1928 – March 7, 2019) was an American author and sportswriter who often wrote for ''Sports Illustrated''. He was also a high-standard amateur golfer who played college golf at Texas Christian University. Ea ...
. They called themselves the Mad Dogs. Gent also explored the corruption in modern professional sports in a sequel volume entitled ''North Dallas After 40'', published in 1989, and in two unrelated football novels — ''Texas Celebrity Turkey Trot'' (1979) and '' The Franchise'' (1983). Gent also wrote a novel about college basketball entitled ''The Conquering Heroes'' (1994). Bill Walton's cover blurb states that the book is the "North Dallas Forty of college basketball. But it’s much more, it’s about a whole generation of kids who came of age in an America that I grew up in."


Personal life

Gent had two children, Holly Gent and Carter Davis Gent. He resided in Bangor, Michigan at the time of his death from a pulmonary disease on September 30, 2011, and was working on another novel.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gent, Peter 1942 births 2011 deaths People from Bangor, Michigan Sportspeople from Van Buren County, Michigan Basketball players from Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football wide receivers Baltimore Bullets (1963–1973) draft picks Michigan State Spartans men's basketball players Dallas Cowboys players 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from Michigan 20th-century American male writers American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Forwards (basketball) 20th-century American sportsmen