As one of the top players in local football history, Brackenridge native Cookie Gilchrist was best known as a hard-charging ballcarrier who knocked down would-be tacklers in his way.
After leading Har-Brack High School to the 1953 WPIAL championship game, Gilchrist went on to fame in the Canadian Football League before returning stateside to help put the fledgling American Football League on the map.
Gilchrist spent much of his career battling social injustice and racism, a mainstream press that balked at black athletes who spoke their mind and coaches and team owners who found his principled stands and uncompromising lifestyle annoying.
But for the past several months, Gilchrist, 71, has been battling the biggest opponent of his lifetime -- cancer. Suffering from throat cancer and in a deteriorating condition, Gilchrist returned to the area to receive treatment at Allegheny Valley Hospital at the behest of a childhood friend, Gail Hazlett.
Once a bruising 259-pound fullback, Gilchrist fell to 179 pounds and could barely speak.
Now living in the Natrona Heights section of Harrison, Gilchrist is recovering and taking time to reminisce with teammates and friends.
"I have a tumor against a carotid artery; I was at death's door," Gilchrist said. "Gail (Hazlett) turned out to be my guardian angel. The treatments are going well and I'm starting to get my weight back up." Gilchrist and Hazlett have known each other since grade school. In fact, Hazlett has organized Har-Brack Class of 1955 reunions and other activities.
Some might think Gilchrist has come home to die. On the contrary, he's come back to live.
Gilchrist was buoyed with the recent removal of his tracheal tube last week, allowing him to eat solid food.
"I just had some catfish, a baked potato and some sweet potatoes," Gilchrist said in a telephone interview after a recent restaurant trip. "The cancer was localized in my throat and they can now treat it much better."
Since an article about his condition appeared in The Buffalo News last month, there has been an outpouring of get-well wishes from Bills fans.
Gilchrist said he is touched by the response, considering he left the Bills on less than ideal terms before the 1965 season after three stellar seasons at fullback,including a championship in 1964.
Although Gilchrist hasn't played in Buffalo in more than 40 years, it's obvious there are Bills fans who remember and revere him.
"I have a whole box of cards and letters," Gilchrist said. "I was surprised; it brought tears to my eyes. I thought Buffalo was mad at me."
Gilchrist was the Bills' first big star, coming over from the Canadian Football League's Toronto Argonauts in 1962.
Gilchrist was the first 1,000-yard rusher -- 1,096 yards in 1962 -- in the fledgling American Football League. The wide-open style of AFL offenses caught the imagination of many fans, particularly younger ones.
The Steelers were struggling at the time. Home games were not televised, but Buffalo games often were carried in the Alle-Kiski Valley, allowing local fans to follow Gilchrist.
Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist was born in Brackenridge on May 25, 1935.
To baseball historians, that was the day Babe Ruth hit the final three home runs of his career at Forbes Field. But to many others, that date was the start of a remarkable life for Gilchrist, who grew up on a multiracial Fourth Avenue.
"It was a utopia growing up there; everybody was nice to you," Gilchrist said. "That molded me for the rest of my life."
As a small child, Gilchrist said his mother called him gingerbread or doughnut until "Cookie" finally evolved.
In high school, Gilchrist was part of Har-Brack's "Triple Terror" backfield of Gilchrist, Barry Johnson and Jim Powell. The Tigers finished strong in 1952 and were looking forward to the '53 campaign. Har-Brack piled up the victories as fans packed the stadiums both home and away to watch Gilchrist and his teammates.
"That was a great team from end to end," said Nick Staresenic, a 1953 assistant coach and later the Highlands School District superintendent.
"Every one of those players was a great athlete."
Har-Brack and Vandergrift were headed for a week nine collision with undefeated records. The build-up to the game was huge. The old Tarentum Valley Daily News ran daily articles about the teams, as one of the largest crowds in local history packed the old Har-Brack Stadium.
Gilchrist put on one of the greatest performances in the history of Western Pennyslvania high school football. The brawny fullback scored five touchdowns, kicked seven extra points and rushed for 294 yards on only 15 carries. Har-Brack demolished the Blue Lancers, 68-33.
The Tigers made their way to the WPIAL title game where they tied Donora, 0-0. Gilchrist missed a 40-yard field goal as time expired.
It was obvious that Gilchrist's last season at Har-Brack would be as a junior, since he would turn 19 before the 1954 season began and be ineligible.
Along came Paul Brown, Cleveland Browns head coach, who offered Gilchrist $5,000 to try out.
"It was great being there with Otto Graham, Marion Motley, Lou Groza -- all the great ones," Gilchrist said.
It was soon discovered that Cookie was too young to play in the NFL under the rules of that era, thus voiding the contract.
"I went from a $5,000 bonus to $100 a week for the (12-game) season, Gilchrist said.
The signing also made him a professional, thus prohibiting him from playing college football.
Brown tried to stash Gilchrist with a rugby team in Canada. Gilchrist, however, dominated the league and soon ended up in the CFL. He spent the next five years running roughshod over the CFL, winning a Grey Cup and a most valuable player award.
While in the second year of a five-year, $140,000 contract with the Toronto Argonauts, Gilchrist suddenly found himself a free agent. The Argos violated his contract terms -- Gilchrist believes they did it on purpose to get rid of him -- and he signed with Buffalo.
He clashed with team officials often. One of the most notable was with Bills coach and general manager Lou Saban. Gilchrist wanted to be paid by commission instead of signing a standard player's contract.
"I wanted a percentage of the hot dog sales, the popcorn, the parking and the ticket sales," Gilchrist said. "He said that would make me part owner of the team. I was a marked man after that."
Players had no real leverage in salary negotiations then. Gilchrist never made more than $30,000 for a season -- certainly not bad money in the '60s -- but it's easy to project he'd be signing a $10 million-plus guaranteed contract in 2007.
After Buffalo, Gilchrist was traded to Denver, then to Miami then back to Denver.After leaving football in 1968 -- he retired due to a broken leg -- Gilchrist stayed in Denver and worked for the federal government's VISTA program.
He also invested in or owned several other businesses.
In 1974, he founded United Athletes in Action, a group designed to help athletes with drug, alcohol and psychiatric problems. It was a dream that became a nightmare and ultimately led Gilchrist to drop out of public life.
He engineered a fundraiser in Toronto, bringing together some of the top acts of the day, including Marvin Gaye and Ike & Tina Turner, to perform with the proceeds going to the UAA.
But a dispute with the venue's landlord resulted in no money for the foundation.
At that point, Cookie became a recluse, living in the Wilmington, Del., area and later, Philadelphia. He rarely did interviews and avoided alumni events with any of his old teams. He took his small NFL pension at age 45. "Didn't think I'd be around when I was 65," he said.
He spent those years introspectively.
"I studied the Bible, the Torah, the Koran," Gilchrist said.
When his cancer was discovered late last year, Hazlett, whom he kept in contact with over the years, urged him to return to Natrona Heights to seek treatment. Now, he's enjoying his return home and renewing long-dormant friendships with classmates and teammates.
What's next?
Cookie is looking forward to his 72nd birthday in a few weeks, an event that was in doubt several months ago.
The NBC affiliate in Buffalo is doing a segment on him and fans there are being urged to vote him a place on the Ring of Honor at Rich Stadium, the Bills' home.
He's also in contact with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in hopes of participating in the 50th anniversary celebration of the 1957 Grey Cup.
Gilchrist hopes to write an autobiography. His next project is to publish a poem, "U R a Superstar 2," in an effort to reach young people who are at risk of going astray. Former teammate and Congressman Jack Kemp has contacted NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about a mass distribution.
