Keith Lincoln, a powerful, versatile fullback for Washington State in the late 1950s and early ’60s who later went on to a storied professional football career with the San Diego Chargers, died Saturday in Pullman at the age of 80.
A multifaceted athlete for the Cougars, Lincoln, nicknamed the “Moose of the Palouse,” had spells at quarterback, running back and punter.
A 1979 WSU Hall of Fame inductee, Lincoln returned to the Palouse following his nine-year career in the American Football League and had two assistant coaching stints, at Idaho in 1970 and WSU in 1971 under Jim Sweeney, before taking on an administrative role at his alma mater as the school’s director of alumni relations.