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No. 55 | |||||||
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Position: | Linebacker | ||||||
Personal information | |||||||
Born: | Richland, Washington, U.S. | May 27, 1954||||||
Died: | August 1, 1990 Kern County, California, U.S. | (aged 36)||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||
Weight: | 223 lb (101 kg) | ||||||
Career information | |||||||
High school: | Fremont (CA) | ||||||
College: | San Jose St. | ||||||
NFL draft: | 1976 / round: 5 / pick: 128 | ||||||
Career history | |||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Carl Frederick Ekern (May 27, 1954 – August 1, 1990) was a National Football League (NFL) linebacker.[1]
Ekern was born in Richland, Washington. He attended Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California. Ekern was a graduate of San Jose State University and played pro football from 1976 to 1988 for the Los Angeles Rams. He appeared in the 1986 Rams promotional video, Let's Ram It,[2] under the name of "Carl E, General of the D."[3]
Ekern died of head injuries on August 1, 1990, when the Jeep he was driving ran off a highway near the Kern County town of Ridgecrest, California. At the time of the accident, Ekern was en route to Minden, Nevada, where he was a volunteer counselor and coach at the Rite of Passage, a camp for juvenile delinquents. The camp is located about 15 miles east of Lake Tahoe.[4][5]
The Carl Ekern award, honoring the former Rams linebacker, is the Los Angeles Rams award given to the player who best exemplifies sportsmanship, work ethic, and commitment to his teammates.[6]