Harry M. Thayer (December 23, 1907 – January 28, 1980) 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 ...

executive who served as general manager for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

of 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) from 1941 to 1946, and for the

Los Angeles Dons The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949, and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Dons were the first profes ...

of 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) from 1947 to 1949. A native of

Dannemora, New York Dannemora is a town in Clinton County, New York, United States. The population was 4,898 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Dannemora, Sweden, an important iron-mining region. The town of Dannemora contains a village also called Danne ...

, Thayer attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

Vermont Vermont () is a state in the northeast New England region of the United States. Vermont is bordered by the states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, and New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to ...

. In , he was appointed general manager of the

in the

(NFL). He served in that position for six years, from 1941 until his resignation following the 1946 season. He was replaced by Al Ennis. Ten days after resigning with the Eagles, Thayer accepted an offer from the

, in the rival

(AAFC), to be their manager. He served as the Dons manager for three seasons, until the team folded in 1950. Thayer started the ''Ellenville Press'', a weekly newspaper, in 1950. He was owner and publisher of the paper until 1959. He was named general manager of the

WGHQ WGHQ (920 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Kingston, New York and serving the Hudson Valley. WGHQ is owned by Pamal Broadcasting The station airs a mix of adult standards, oldies, and soft adult contemporary formats known as ...

radio station in 1959, and became its president in 1962. He assumed presidency of the Herald Review Radio, Inc., which owned four other radio stations, three years later. Thayer died on January 28, 1980, in the

Kingston, New York Kingston is a Administrative divisions of New York#City, city in and the county seat of Ulster County, New York, United States. It is north of New York City and south of Albany, New York, Albany. The city's metropolitan area is grouped with t ...

, Hospital. He was 72 years old at the time of his death.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thayer, Harry 1907 births 1980 deaths 20th-century American newspaper founders Middlebury College alumni Philadelphia Eagles executives People from Clinton County, New York