Joe Thomas (American football executive)
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Joseph Henry Thomas (March 18, 1921 – February 10, 1983) was a
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) general manager and also served as the head coach of the Baltimore Colts for part of the 1974 season.


Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins

Thomas was director of player personnel for the
Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansi ...
(1960–65) and the
Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...
from 1965 until his contract dispute with team owner
Joe Robbie Joseph Robbie (July 7, 1916 – January 7, 1990) was an American attorney, politician, and the principal founder of the Miami Dolphins. Early life Robbie was raised in Sisseton, South Dakota, the second of five children. His father was a Lebanes ...
culminated with his resignation on February 22, 1972. He was succeeded by
Bobby Beathard Robert King Beathard Jr. ( ; born January 24, 1937) is an American former football executive who was a general manager in the National Football League (NFL). Over the course of his 38 years in the NFL, his teams competed in seven Super Bowls ( ...
three days later. The Dolphins won the subsequent two Super Bowls.


Baltimore Colts

Thomas arranged for
Robert Irsay Robert Irsay (March 5, 1923 – January 14, 1997) was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise from 1972 until his death in 1997. Early life and education Irsay ...
to purchase the Los Angeles Rams from the estate of
Dan Reeves Daniel Edward Reeves (January 19, 1944 – January 1, 2022) was an American football running back and coach in the National Football League (NFL). During his 38 years in the NFL, Reeves participated in nine Super Bowls, the third most for an ...
for $19 million before exchanging them for
Carroll Rosenbloom Dale Carroll Rosenbloom (March 5, 1907 – April 2, 1979) was an American businessman. He was the owner of two National Football League franchises; he was the first owner of the Baltimore Colts, and later switched teams, taking ownership of the ...
's Baltimore Colts in an unprecedented transaction which was completed on July 13, 1972. He became general manager of the Colts, succeeding Don Klosterman who transitioned to the Rams in a similar capacity. When the ballclub opened
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
at 1–4, he fired head coach Don McCafferty on October 16 and replaced him with defensive line coach
John Sandusky John Thomas "Sandy" Sandusky, Jr. (December 28, 1925 – March 5, 2006) was an American football player and coach. He played seven seasons as an offensive and defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) during the 1950s for the Cle ...
who was ordered by Thomas to start younger players over the veterans. The result was Johnny Unitas being benched for the remainder of the season in favor of
Marty Domres Martin Francis Domres ( ; born April 17, 1947) is a former American collegiate and professional football player. From Columbia University, he was drafted in the first round of the Common Draft as a quarterback by the American Football League ( ...
. After the 5–9 Colts finished its first losing campaign in sixteen years,Mulvoy, Mark. "The New Colts Are Mighty Frisky," ''Sports Illustrated'', December 8, 1975.
Retrieved May 17, 2018
he dismissed Sandusky and his entire coaching staff on December 20. He was reunited with Dolphins offensive coordinator
Howard Schnellenberger Howard Leslie Schnellenberger (March 16, 1934 – March 27, 2021) was an American football coach with long service at both the professional and college levels. He held head coaching positions with the National Football League's Baltimore Colts a ...
who was named as Sandusky's successor eight weeks later on February 14, 1973. When the Colts went 4–13 over parts of two seasons with Schnellenberger at the helm, Thomas was named to replace him by Irsay following a 30–10 loss to 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 play ...
at
Veterans Stadium Veterans Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, at the northeast corner of Broad Street and Pattison Avenue, part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. The seating capacities were 65,358 for foo ...
on September 29, 1974. Irsay had first gone to the press box to inform Thomas that he was the new head coach and then to the locker room to announce his actions to the Colts players before breaking the news to Schnellenberger in a heated discussion in the coaches office. Weeks prior to hiring Schnellenberger, Thomas purged the team of its veteran players, beginning with trading Unitas to the San Diego Chargers on January 22, 1973. Within the next ten days,
Tom Matte Thomas Roland Matte (June 14, 1939November 2, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) in the 1960s and 1970s and earned a Super Bowl ring. He attended Shaw High School in ...
would follow Unitas to San Diego,
Bill Curry William Alexander Curry (born October 21, 1942) is a retired American football coach and former player. Most recently, Curry was the head coach at Georgia State University, which began competing in college football in 2010. Previously, Curry s ...
was sent to the
Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...
,
Billy Newsome William Ray Newsome (born March 2, 1948) is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts, New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, and the Chicago Bears. He played college football at Gramb ...
to the
New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...
,
Norm Bulaich Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive materials (TENORM) consist of materials, usually industrial wastes or by-products enriched with radioactive elements found in the envir ...
to 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 play ...
and
Jerry Logan Jerry Don Logan (born August 27, 1941) is a former American football player. He played as a safety for 10 seasons in the NFL. He was a part of the Baltimore Colts Super Bowl V winning team. See also * List of NCAA major college football yearl ...
to the Rams. The Newsome deal brought to the Colts the second overall selection in the 1973 NFL Draft which was used to pick
Bert Jones Bertram Hays Jones (born September 7, 1951) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams. At Ruston High School in Ruston, Louisiana, he was given t ...
. In that draft and the one the following year, Thomas would also select a pair of blind-side
offensive linemen In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...
in David Taylor and Robert Pratt and an entire defensive line of
Joe Ehrmann Joseph Charles Ehrmann (born March 29, 1949) is a former National Football League (NFL) defensive lineman, originally drafted as the 10th pick in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft out of Syracuse University to the Baltimore Colts. Ehrmann ...
, Mike Barnes, John Dutton and Fred Cook. After the Colts qualified for the NFL playoffs by winning the AFC East title in each of two consecutive seasons in
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
and
1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...
, Thomas lost a power struggle over player personnel decisions to head coach
Ted Marchibroda Theodore Joseph Marchibroda (March 15, 1931 – January 16, 2016) was an American football quarterback and head coach in the National Football League (NFL). He spent his four years as an active player with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1953, 1955&nd ...
and was fired by Irsay on January 21, 1977. The Colts had five different head coaches during Thomas' five-year tenure, one of whom was himself.


San Francisco 49ers

Thomas then was hired as GM of the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
in 1977 by new owner Eddie DeBartolo at the recommendation of Al Davis and immediately fired head coach
Monte Clark Monte Dale Clark (January 24, 1937 – September 16, 2009) was an American football player who served as head coach for the San Francisco 49ers and the Detroit Lions. He played college football at USC. Early years Clark attended Kingsburg High S ...
. The 49ers went 7–23 in his two seasons with the franchise, and his biggest trade, a series of 5 high draft picks for OJ Simpson. He also fired two more head coaches,
Ken Meyer Kenneth W. Meyer (July 14, 1925 – August 14, 2016) was an American football coach at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. He may be best remembered as the head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers in 1977 ...
and
Pete McCulley Pete McCulley (November 29, 1931 – November 25, 1992) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach of the National Football League's San Francisco 49ers for the first nine games of the 1978 season. Winning only one game during ...
. Thomas and his third 49ers head coach
Fred O'Connor Fred O'Connor (born September 1, 1939) is a former American football coach and administrator whose career spanned more than 30 years at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels. He served in coaching positions in the National Footbal ...
were dismissed on January 8, 1979, one day prior to Bill Walsh succeeding the latter.


Personal life

Thomas married the former Judi Demian in 1969. They had a daughter, Paige, in June 1970. Thomas died on February 10, 1983 at the age of 61. He was living in Miami and was VP of the Miami Dolphins at the time of his death.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Joe 1921 births 1983 deaths Baltimore Colts head coaches Baltimore Colts executives Miami Dolphins executives San Francisco 49ers executives Minnesota Vikings executives National Football League general managers