Tommy Nobis

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Tommy Nobis
No. 60
Position:
1
AFL draft:1966 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Total tackles:1,688
Interceptions:12
Interception yards:182
Fumble recoveries:13
Sacks:9.5
Defensive touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Thomas Henry Nobis Jr. (September 20, 1943 – December 13, 2017), nicknamed "Mr. Falcon", was an American

first overall selection in the 1966 NFL draft
.

Early years

Born and raised in

middle linebacker
for the Mustangs.

College years

Nobis is one of college football's all-time greatest

national championship team, which defeated #2 Navy led by Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach in the Cotton Bowl
. Nobis was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity at the university.

Nobis was a two-time

lineman, the Outland Trophy, best interior lineman, and the Maxwell Award for college football's best player. Nobis also finished seventh in the Heisman voting to USC's Mike Garrett. He appeared on the covers of LIFE, Sports Illustrated and TIME
magazines.

NFL career

In November 1965, Nobis became the first player drafted by the expansion Atlanta Falcons[2] as well as the second linebacker to be chosen first overall when he was taken with the #1 pick in the 1966 NFL draft, held on November 27, 1965. The Houston Oilers also selected him in the AFL draft. This presented a dilemma and also sparked a debate that reached as far as outer space when astronaut Frank Borman (a big Oilers fan), aboard Gemini 7, talked back to earth with the message, "tell Nobis to sign with Houston." (Borman's sons were ball boys for the Oilers.)[3] Nobis instead signed with Atlanta on December 14 and became the first member of the Atlanta Falcons,[4][5] gaining the nickname "Mr. Falcon".

Tommy Nobis joined the Falcons for their inaugural season in

NFL's "All-Decade Team" for the 1960s. Miami Dolphins great, running back Larry Csonka commented, "I'd rather play against Dick Butkus than Nobis," and Falcons coach Norm Van Brocklin
once pointed to Nobis' locker and proclaimed, "There's where our football team dresses."

Nobis is a member of the Atlanta Falcons' Ring of Honor. No other Falcons player has ever worn the number.[2] In 2005, he was named to the Professional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's third HOVG class.[6]

Hall of Fame Credentials

Nobis enjoyed a successful NFL career that many believe is worthy of

Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist and Hall of Fame voter Furman Bisher wrote, "There isn't much more one can say about Tommy Nobis. In the glow of a winning team, where he would have been a star on the isolated camera, he would already have been residing in Canton. It's not a Falcons thing, it's a Nobis thing, and here is a man who lives up to all the ideals I would establish for admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."[2] Nobis has been nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame several times, and was a finalist in both 2020 and 2022.[7][8]

After the NFL

Number 60 is also revered at Texas where it was offered only to the best of linebackers. All American Britt Hager wore #60 during his senior season, as did All American Brian Jones. In 2004, another Longhorn All-American linebacker, Derrick Johnson, decided to wear the jersey in his final collegiate home game to honor Nobis.[9] The number has recently joined Earl Campbell's #20, Bobby Layne's #22, Ricky Williams' #34, Vince Young's #10 and Colt McCoy's #12 as UT's only retired numbers.

Tommy Nobis was inducted into the Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1976. He was named to Sports Illustrated ’s All-Century Team (1869–1969) [2] and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the State of Texas Hall of Fame, the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame, and the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame. In May 2007, he was inducted as a charter member into the Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Hall of Fame.

Tommy Nobis retired from the Falcons after 40 years as a member of the organization, in the front office and on the field.

Apart from football, Nobis was a co-founder and a board of directors member of the Tommy Nobis Center that began in 1976. The mission of the organization is to develop and provide job training, employment, and vocational support for youth and adults with disabilities and other barriers to employment. He won the

Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. award for his work with the Georgia Special Olympics
and has been named the NFL Man of the Year.

Tommy Nobis died on December 13, 2017, at home at age 74, with his wife by his side, after an extended illness.[10] On January 28, 2019, researchers from Boston University confirmed that Nobis had the most severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.[11] He is one of at least 345 NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[12][13]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ Selected only as a linebacker
  1. ^ "Tommy Nobis, Star Linebacker and the First Falcon, Dies at 74 (Published 2017)". December 14, 2017. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved August 3, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Mr. Falcon". NobisWorks. Archived from the original on May 4, 2015. Retrieved May 4, 2015.
  3. ^ "Astronauts hope Oilers get Nobis". Spartanburg Herald. South Carolina. Associated Press. December 9, 1965. p. 38. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  4. ^ "Falcons sign Tommy Nobis". Nashua Telegraph. New Hampshire. Associated Press. December 14, 1965. p. 12. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  5. ^ "Nobis inks Atlanta Falcons bonus pact". Times-News. Hendersonville, North Carolina. UPI. December 15, 1965. p. 15. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  6. ^ "Hall of Very Good". Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved July 14, 2016.
  7. ^ Birchfield, Evan. "Falcons legends Tommy Nobis, Dan Reeves named 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists". Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  8. ^ Birchfield, Evan. "Falcons legend Tommy Nobis is one step closer to Canton". Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
  9. ^ "Derrick Johnson dons No. 60 for final home game". TexasSports.com. November 24, 2004. Archived from the original on June 11, 2011. Retrieved May 5, 2009.
  10. ^ "Tommy Nobis, 'Mr. Falcon,' is dead at 74". ajc.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2018. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  11. ^ "'Mr. Falcon' Nobis had most severe form of CTE". ESPN.com. January 29, 2019. Archived from the original on January 30, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  12. ^ "The driving force behind Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE)". Concussion Legacy Foundation. Archived from the original on July 2, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Ken Belson and Benjamin Mueller (June 20, 2023). "Collective Force of Head Hits, Not Just the Number of Them, Increases Odds of C.T.E. The largest study of chronic traumatic encephalopathy to date found that the cumulative force of head hits absorbed by players in their careers is the best predictor of future brain disease". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2023. Retrieved July 2, 2023.

External links

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