Eugene Derricotte was an American college football player who was a halfback and return specialist for the Michigan Wolverines from 1944 to 1948.
23 Facts About Gene Derricotte
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Gene Derricotte was one of the first African-American athletes at the University of Michigan in the era when college football was beginning to integrate.
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Gene Derricotte served as a Tuskegee Airman and later had a successful career in dentistry while continuing to serve in the military.
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Gene Derricotte was born in Fostoria, Ohio, on June 14,1926, and he grew up in Defiance, Ohio, where his father Clarence Cobb Gene Derricotte ran a shoe repair business.
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Years later, Gene Derricotte would tell a reporter friend of his that he always wondered about his ancestry.
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Gene Derricotte knew his name was French, but he was not able to find out much more about his roots.
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Gene Derricotte was an immediate contributor as the team's leading ground gainer in 1944.
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In December 1944, Gene Derricotte was drafted into the United States Army.
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Gene Derricotte was initially assigned as an artillery cannoneer with the 16th Separate Training Battalion in Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
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Gene Derricotte later transferred to the Tuskegee Airmen pilot training program in Tuskegee, Alabama.
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Gene Derricotte maintained a "B" average and majored in pharmacy.
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Gene Derricotte, who wore No 41 while a Michigan Wolverine, had an unusual college football career because he began by starting many games, but gradually became more of a return specialist.
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In 1947, Gene Derricotte averaged 24.8 yards on punt returns, which still stands as a Michigan school record.
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Gene Derricotte returned three punts for touchdowns in one season, which was a Big Ten Conference record for more than 50 years until Ted Ginn Jr.
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Gene Derricotte scored a touchdown on a 45-yard reception from Henry Fonde in the game.
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Gene Derricotte was involved in only the third time Michigan had two 100-yard rushers in the same game.
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Gene Derricotte was selected in the first round of the All-America Football Conference draft in 1949 by the undefeated league defending champion, Cleveland Browns.
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Gene Derricotte was injured during training camp with the Browns at the end of July 1949 while standing along the sidelines playing catch with a teammate.
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Coach Paul Brown said Gene Derricotte had a chronic knee injury that only rest could cure.
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Gene Derricotte was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1987.
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In 1950, Gene Derricotte earned a degree in pharmacy, and in 1958, he earned a further degree in dentistry.
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Gene Derricotte then relocated to San Antonio, Texas, where he started another career at the University of Texas Health Science Center.
23.
Gene Derricotte married, and he and his wife Jeanne had a son, Rob.