Terrance Gilbert Dillon (August 18, 1941 – May 28, 1964) was a

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 ...

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). Dillon played with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

during the

1963 NFL season The 1963 NFL season was the 44th regular season of the National Football League. On April 17, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle suspended Green Bay Packers running back Paul Hornung and Detroit Lions defensive tackle Alex Karras indefinitely f ...

. He had also been drafted in the 19th round of the

1963 American Football League draft The 1963 American Football League draft was held in Dallas on Saturday, December 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted as the Dallas Texans, as their relocation would take place a few months later. With the first overall selection, they took ...

by 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 ...

. On May 28, 1964, Terry Dillon was working on a bridge construction project west of Missoula when part of the temporary decking gave way and he fell into the swift-running Clark Fork River. Witnesses said Dillon, a strong swimmer, started swimming for shore, fighting the current, but disappeared after traveling about . His body was found on July 17 by a fisherman about downstream from the bridge. In 1965,

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Rip Hawkins received the first "Terry Dillon" award given by the Minnesota Vikings in honor of their late teammate. The award symbolizes Dillon's qualities of dedication, self-sacrifice and ability.

References

1941 births 1964 deaths American football defensive backs Deaths by drowning in Montana Industrial accident deaths Minnesota Vikings players Montana Grizzlies football players Players of American football from Waukesha, Wisconsin 20th-century American sportsmen {{defensiveback-1940s-stub