Lamar Lundy (HHS’57) arrived at Purdue in 1953 from Richmond, Indiana. At 6 feet 7 inches and 200 pounds, he was a dominant presence in both basketball and football. A three-time letter winner, Lundy was named Most Valuable Player in both sports during his senior year.

On the basketball court, Lundy played center for the Boilermakers from 1954–1957 where he averaged 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. He was the first African American to receive a football scholarship to Purdue. A gifted and versatile athlete, Lundy played both offense and defense on the gridiron. His senior year, he led the Boilermakers in receiving yards and scored four touchdowns.

In 1957, Lundy was selected in both the NFL (LA Rams) and NBA (St. Louis Hawks) drafts. He opted to pursue a professional football career in Los Angeles, rather than stay in the Midwest and play basketball. Lundy went on to play 13 seasons in the NFL with the LA Rams where he was a member of the Fearsome Foursome, which Hall of Famer Dick Butkus referred to as “the most dominant defensive line in football history.”

Lundy told Sports Illustrated in 2001, “What made us special was how we worked together. There was always a deep understanding among the four of us, something that keeps us close.”

He is one of only two athletes to be enshrined in both the Indiana Basketball and Indiana Football Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995. But his impact went beyond athletics.

In a 2008 story by the Big Ten, Rams Foursome teammate Deacon Jones spoke to Lundy’s influence:

“I met Lamar in 1961 when I joined the Rams as a player and he had already been there a few years,” Jones said. “When I got there, things were completely different than they are now. We were all coming out of a segregated world and we needed leadership among ourselves. I needed a mentor and Lamar was just a solid player and solid gentleman. We met during the course of training camp and became tight friends. He really helped me out during my rookie year and I don’t know if I would have made it through my first season without him.”