Robert William Thurbon (February 22, 1918 – September 11, 2000) was an
American football
American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...
player and coach of football and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
. He played professionally as a
halfback in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL) with the
Steagles and
Card-Pitt and the
All-America Football Conference
The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...
(AAFC) with
Buffalo Bisons
The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...
. Thurbon was born in
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...
and played
college football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States.
Unlike most ...
at the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...
. He served as the head football coach at Edinboro State Teachers College—now known as
PennWest Edinboro
PennWest Edinboro is a campus of Pennsylvania Western University, a multi-campus public university in Pennsylvania. Located in the town of Edinboro, the campus has more than 4,600 enrolled students.
History
Edinboro University was founded a ...
—from 1956 to 1959, compiling a record of 15–16–2. He was also the head basketball coach at Edinboro from 1956 to 1959, tallying a mark of 23–37. Before he was hired at Edinboro in 1956, Thurbon was a teacher and backfield coach under Joe Setcavage at North East High School in
North East, Pennsylvania.
Head coaching record
References
External links
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1918 births
2000 deaths
20th-century American educators
American football halfbacks
American schoolteachers
Buffalo Bisons (AAFC) players
Card-Pitt players
Edinboro Fighting Scots football coaches
Edinboro Fighting Scots men's basketball coaches
Pittsburgh Panthers football players
Steagles players and personnel
High school football coaches in Pennsylvania
Players of American football from Erie, Pennsylvania
Coaches of American football from Pennsylvania
Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
Educators from Pennsylvania
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