Les Bingaman
Bingaman on a 1954 Bowman football card
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| Date of birth | February 3, 1926 |
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| Place of birth | McKenzie, Tennessee |
| Date of death | November 20, 1970 (aged 44) |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Middle guard, tackle |
| College | Illinois |
| NFL draft | 1948 / Round: 3/ Pick 15 |
| Career history | |
| As player | |
| 1948–1954 | Detroit Lions |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| Pro Bowls | 2 |
| Career stats | |
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Lester Alonza "Bingo" Bingaman (February 3, 1926 – November 20, 1970) was an American football player and coach. He played college football at the University of Illinois from 1944 to 1947 and professional football in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions from 1948 to 1954. He earned trips to the Pro Bowl after the 1951 and 1953 seasons. He was also selected as a first-team All Pro player four consecutive years from 1951 to 1954. At times weighing as much as 350 pounds, Bingaman was the heaviest player in the NFL during his playing career. He later worked as an assistant coach for the Detroit Lions from 1960 to 1964 and for the Miami Dolphins from 1966 to 1969.
Bingaman was born in 1926 in McKenzie, Tennessee, moved to Indiana, and attended Lew Wallace High School in Gary, Indiana.
Bingaman enrolled at the University of Illinois and played college football at the tackle position for the Fighting Illini footbal team from 1944 to 1947. He was the starting right tackle for the 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team that won the Big Ten Conference championship, was ranked #5 in the final AP Poll, and defeated #4 UCLA in the 1947 Rose Bowl.
Bingaman was selected by the Detroit Lions in the third round (15th overall pick) of the 1948 NFL Draft, signed with the Lions in June 1948, and played for the team, principally at the middle guard position on defense, for seven years from 1948 to 1954. He appeared in 78 NFL games and was selected as a second-team All Pro in 1950 and a first-team All Pro in 1951 (AP), 1952 (UP), 1953 (AP, UP), and 1954 (AP, UP, TSN). He was also chosen to play in the Pro Bowl after the 1951 and 1953 seasons. He was a member of the Lions' NFL championship teams in 1952 and 1953. In August 1954, he weighed in at 349-1/2 pounds, with the Lions having to use the scale at a grain elevator to capture his weight. According to one account published in 1960, he was "the biggest man who ever played professional football". At the end of the 1954 season, Bingaman announced that he was retiring at age 29, noting that it was "getting tougher every year to get in shape."
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