The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1190316
44 ■ THE WOLFPACKER W H E R E AR E T H E Y N O W ? BY MATT CARTER T his year is the 100th anniversary of the NFL and 150th of college football, and Claude "Hoot" Gib- son participated in the evolution of college and pro football into the most popular sport in America today. Gibson, born May 26, 1939, grew up in Asheville, N.C. His idol was local native and legendary football star Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice, a two-time Heisman Trophy runner-up at North Carolina. "Had Carolina offered me a scholarship, I probably would have gone there," Gibson noted. But the Heels didn't, and NC State almost did not as well. For a time, the product of Lee Edwards High School's best option was a full scholarship offer to Western Carolina. Then former NC State assistant coach Carey Brewbaker interfered to change Gibson's fate. Brewbaker, a native of Durham, N.C., was an outlier on a Wolfpack staff that Gibson joked "were some Yankees." Gibson was a jack-of-all-trades for the Wolfpack football, leading the team in punt returns in 1958 and '60, leading it in receiving yards and kickoff returns in '59, and tying for the team lead in interceptions in '60. PHOTO COURTESY NC STATE MEDIA RELATIONS CLAUDE "HOOT" GIBSON