James Neal Thomason (March 28, 1920 – August 4, 2007) 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 wi ...

player and coach. A native of

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 at th2020 census Brownwood is located in the Northern Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University that was founded in 1889. ...

, was Thomason played college football at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

and was a member of the

1939 Texas A&M Aggies football team The 1939 Texas A&M Aggies football team was an American football team that represented Texas A&M University in the Southwest Conference during the 1939 college football season. In their sixth year under head coach Homer Norton, the Aggies comp ...

, which won a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the best team, indi ...

. He was selected in the first round with the fifth overall selection by the Detroit Lions in the

1941 NFL Draft The 1941 National Football League Draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. Player selections Round 1 Round 2 R ...

. Thomason served as an officer in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. He was head coach of the

1943 Greenville Army Air Base Jay Birds football team The 1943 Greenville Army Air Base Jay Birds football team represented the United States Army Air Forces's 334th Bombardment Group at Greenville Army Air Base (Greenville AAB), located near Greenville, South Carolina, during the 1943 college f ...

. Thomason later worked as an accountant in Brownwood. He died on August 4, 2007, at this home in Brenham, Texas.

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * 1920 births 2007 deaths American accountants American football halfbacks Detroit Lions players Texas A&M Aggies football players United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II People from Brownwood, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas Military personnel from Texas {{runningback-1920s-stub