John Russell Thomas (July 24, 1924 – March 19, 1991) 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 ...
tackle who played four seasons with the
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
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). He was drafted by the Lions in the third round of the
1946 NFL Draft. He 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
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...
after attending
Charleston High School in
Charleston, West Virginia
Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...
. His playing career ended in 1949 after he suffered a knee injury. Thomas was an assistant coach on the Detroit Lions' 1952 and 1953
NFL Championship
Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...
teams. He also served as the general manager of the Lions from 1967 until his retirement in 1989. He was unpopular with Lions fans for his tough stance at the negotiating table and the scapegoat for the team's mediocrity during his tenure. He died in his sleep on March 19, 1991. The Detroit Lions players wore a silver football shaped patch on the left chest of their jerseys with the initials 'JRT' in his memory during the 1991 season.
References
External links
Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Russ
1924 births
1991 deaths
American football tackles
Ohio State Buckeyes football players
Detroit Lions coaches
Detroit Lions executives
Detroit Lions players
National Football League general managers
Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia
People from Lincoln County, West Virginia
Players of American football from West Virginia