Ralph Werner Thomas (born December 16, 1929) is a former

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 ...

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

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 ...

for the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

and the

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

Biography

He graduated from

St. Catherine's High School (Racine, Wisconsin) St. Catherine's High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school in Racine, Wisconsin. It is a member of Siena Catholic Schools of Racine and the Catholic Schools of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee. History St. Catherine's tr ...

Class of 1947. After high school, he played for the

Racine Raiders The Racine Raiders are a semi-professional American football club based in Racine, Wisconsin. The team plays in the Gridiron Developmental Football League (GDFL). Founded in 1953, they are the oldest minor league football team still operating ...

. He attended the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a private Jesuit university in San Francisco, California. The university's main campus is located on a setting between the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park. The main campus is nicknamed "The Hil ...

from 1948 to 1951 and was a member of the

1951 San Francisco Dons football team The 1951 San Francisco Dons football team was an American football team that represented the University of San Francisco as an independent during the 1951 college football season. In their fourth season under head coach Joe Kuharich, the Dons c ...

. In 1955, while playing for the Redskins, he set the unofficial record for fastest consecutive TD at 0:02.7 seconds. He was featured in the 2014 documentary

'51 Dons ''51 Dons'' is a 2014 American documentary film directed by Ron Luscinski and written by Luscinski, Tom Davis and Danny Llewelyn. Narrated by Johnny Mathis, it covers the 1951 San Francisco Dons football team and its unique stand against racism. T ...

Awards and honors

* 1979 University of San Francisco Athletic Hall of Fame * 2000 St. Catherine's High School Alumni Hall of Fame

References

1929 births Living people Sportspeople from Kenosha, Wisconsin American football wide receivers San Francisco Dons football players Chicago Cardinals players Washington Redskins players Players of American football from Wisconsin {{widereceiver-1920s-stub