No. 41 | |
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Position: | Guard |
Personal information | |
Born: | Oilton, Oklahoma, U.S. | May 6, 1917
Died: | June 4, 1981 (age 64) Florence, South Carolina, U.S. |
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
Weight: | 200 lb (91 kg) |
Career information | |
High school: | Oilton (OK) |
College: | Oklahoma |
NFL draft: | 1939 / Round: 12 / Pick: 102 |
Career history | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
Player stats at PFR |
James F. Thomas (May 6, 1917 – June 4, 1981) was an American football guard.
Thomas was born in 1917 at Oilton, Oklahoma. He attended Oilton High School. [1]
Thomas attended the University of Oklahoma and played for the Oklahoma Sooners football team from 1935 to 1938. [1] He was a member of the 1938 Oklahoma Sooners football team that compiled a 10–1 record and was ranked No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll. He was known as "Singer" Thomas at Oklahoma because of his constant singing in the shower room. [2]
He was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals with the 102nd pick in the 1939 NFL Draft. [3] He appeared in 13 games for the Cardinals during the 1939 and 1940 seasons. [4]
Thomas was also an opera singer who sang with the Metropolitan Opera for a year. He served in the Army during World War II, attaining the rank of lieutenant and serving in the field artillery under General George Patton. He was a school teacher in Florence, South Carolina, starting in 1966. He died of an apparent heart attack in 1981 in Florence. [5]