Jeff Gaylord Death And Obituary – Jeff Gaylord, a former defensive end in the CFL and USFL, passed away at the age of 64 on March 15th. Gaylord played high school football at Shawnee Mission South in Overland Park, Kansas, before embarking on a college career at the University of Missouri. He went on to be a 4th round draft pick (88th overall) of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams in 1982. After being cut by the Rams in camp later that summer, Gaylord spent part of the 1982 season with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, playing just four games before being released.
In 1983, he was signed as a free agent by the Boston Breakers of the United States Football League and played in 14 games during the 1983 season, becoming the team’s starting nose tackle. When the Breakers’ franchise transferred to New Orleans in the fall of 1983, Gaylord played in 13 games with the Breakers in 1984 before being suspended for the last three games of the season. Later that fall, the Breakers relocated once again to Portland, Oregon, for the 1985 season, but Gaylord was traded to the San Antonio Gunslingers, where he was a starting defensive tackle for the first seven games before ending his season on April 8. The USFL folded in the summer of 1986.
He was also a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional and independent promotions including Bill Watts’ Universal Wrestling Federation, World Class Championship Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association during the late 1980s and 1990s, most notably as a frequent tag team partner of Jeff Jarrett. During the late 1990s, he was a member of “Psycho” Sid Vicious’ The Psychos and, as Akeem Hassain, the USWA-faction of the Nation of Domination.
He also made a one-time appearance in the World Wrestling Federation as The Black Knight in the 1993 Survivor Series.
Condolences to his family and friends and may he Rest in Peace.