Detroit Lions: 15 greatest wide receivers in franchise history
By Randy Gurzi
50. . 1960-1968. Detroit Lions. Gail Cogdill. 5. player
Coming out of Washington State in 1960, wide receiver Gail Cogdill had a decision to make. He was taken in both the NFL and AFL Draft with the Lions using a sixth-round pick on him and the Houston Texans spending a first-round selection on him in their league. Not only did they use a premium selection on Cogdill, but they also offered him more money than the Lions did.
However, Cogdill wanted to play in the league he felt was superior and therefore, he joined Detroit. He quickly won over head coach George Wilson and was on the field for 12 games as a rookie — which wasn’t as common of a practice in the 1960s as it is today.
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That year, he caught 43 passes for 642 yards and a touchdown. He was named to the Pro Bowl for his work, the first of three times he would earn that honor. From there, he only got better and continued to draw praise from Wilson who said Cogdill could become one of the best to ever play the game.
He made his second Pro Bowl in 1962 and then again in 1963. Those two seasons, as well as his second campaign, all saw the 6-foot-3 wideout cross the 900-yard plateau and he even scored 10 touchdowns in 1963.
However, things slowed down for Cogdill after that. He missed three games in 1964 due to a shoulder injury and then missed five in 1965 after hurting his knee. He never fully recovered from that injury and wasn’t nearly as effective a player as the Lions had come to know.
His final season with the Lions was 1968, where he was waived after just three games. He finished that season with the Baltimore Colts before joining the Atlanta Falcons for two seasons. In all, Cogdill had 5,221 yards and 28 touchdowns for Detroit in nine seasons, making him one of the more productive pass catchers they have ever employed.