Goose Gonsoulin

Austin William "Goose" Gonsoulin (June 7, 1938 – September 8, 2014) was an American professional football player who was a safety in the American Football League (AFL) for the Denver Broncos and in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers. The football player was raised in Port Arthur, Texas. He was an All-District and All-state athlete at Thomas Jefferson High School on both the football and track teams.^[1]

Gonsoulin played college football for the Baylor Bears where he was a receiver and a defensive back. He captained the 1959 team.

Gonsoulin was drafted by the Dallas Texans, but shortly before the inaugural season he was traded to Denver.

At the end of his stint with the Broncos, he was the AFL's all-time leader in interceptions with 40. He made the first interception ever in the AFL, in the first league game against the Boston Patriots. He had seven interceptions in his first three games, and his 11 pickoffs in 1960 are still a Denver club record. He shares the team record for interceptions in a game with four, a feat he accomplished September 18, 1960 at Buffalo.

Gonsoulin was a Sporting News AFL All-League player in 1960, 1962, and 1963, and an AFL Western Division All-Star in 1961, 1964 and 1966. In 1966, he recorded no interceptions but still was named an AFL All-Star that year. His amazing durability and toughness enabled him to start 61 consecutive games at one point in his career. He was also the captain of his college team at Baylor. Gonsoulin was selected to the second unit of the American Football League All-Time Team. He was tied for 6th all-time in interceptions (46) when he played his last game in 1967.^[2]

He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1984. ^[3]

Gonsoulin died on September 8, 2014.^[4]

• List of American Football League players