Roland Lakes (1939-2012)

It’s been so long now that Wichita State has been without a football program that some have probably forgotten the Shockers ever had one.Former Wichita State lineman Roland Lakes died this week at the age of 72. He played in more NFL games than all but one former WSU player, Jumpy Geathers.And while there wasn’t a lot to gloat about the WSU football era, the Shockers did produce 38 players, according to profootballreference.com, who went on to play in the NFL.

One of them, former defensive tackle Roland Lakes, died this week in California at the age of 72.

Lakes was an All-Missouri Valley Conference center in 1959 and 1960, and a starting tackle in the 1960 College All-Star game in Chicago. He was a second-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1961 NFL draft and is a charter inductee of the Wichita State Sports Hall of Fame, inducted in 1979.

Lakes, the youngest starting lineman in 49ers history, played in more NFL games than all but one former Shocker, defensive lineman Jumpy Geathers, who played in 183 games during his 13-year career with New Orleans, Washington, Atlanta and Denver. Geathers was the last former Shocker still playing in the NFL before he retired in 1996.

Lakes, who was born on Christmas Day, 1939, in Vicksburg, Miss., played in 154 games during an 11-year career; 124 of them as a starter.

I never interviewed Lakes, but I definitely would have asked him about the fumble he returned two yards for a touchdown during a 1969 49ers game against the Atlanta Falcons. He recovered 10 fumbles during his career but that was the only touchdown. It cut the Falcons’ lead to 14-7; Atlanta eventually won, 21-7.

Earl Edwards, another former Shocker defensive lineman, played in 150 games from 1969-79 for San Francisco, Buffalo, Cleveland and Green Bay.

This story was originally published March 8, 2012 at 3:42 PM with the headline "Roland Lakes (1939-2012)."