Thornton Chandler is a former professional

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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

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 ...

(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

. He played college football at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and largest of the publi ...

Early years

Chandler attended

William M. Raines High School William Marion Raines Senior High School is a historically black high school in Jacksonville, Florida. The school is located off Moncrief Road in Jacksonville, Florida's northside at the corner Raines Avenue in northwest Jacksonville. Raines serv ...

, where he was switched from wide receiver to

, after he grew up to 6-5 feet and 240 pounds as a freshman. As a senior he received All-American honors. Against Lake City High School, he had 10 receptions for 170 yards and 2

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s. He received All-City honors twice, even though he was mostly a blocker in his team's

wishbone offense The wishbone formation, also known simply as the bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense. Like the spread offense in the 2000s to the present, the wishbone ...

, finishing his career with 29 receptions and 4

s. As a freshman at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the Un ...

, he played the flanker and

positions, before deciding to transfer to the

after just two games. At Alabama he was named the starter in 1983 and became an accomplished blocking

in the team's run-oriented offense. In 1985, he was the team's third-leading receiver, registering 16 receptions for 244 yards. In 32 games, he posted 32 receptions for 504 yards (15.8-yard average) and 2

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Chandler was selected by the

in the sixth round (140th overall) of the

1986 NFL Draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

. As a rookie, his first 2 receptions went for

s. He was

Doug Cosbie Douglas Durant Cosbie (born March 27, 1956) is a former American football tight end in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Santa Clara University. Cosbie has been a football coach for seve ...

’s backup for two years, until earning the starting job in the fifth game of the 1988 season. The next year Thornton broke his wrist playing

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, before the start of training camp which affected his play. This resulted in losing his starting job to Steve Folsom and eventually being waived on October 18,

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxon Valdez oil tanker runs ...

. In three-plus seasons, Thornton was mostly known for his blocking ability. He recorded 29 receptions for 268 yards and 4

New York Giants

On April 12,

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of humanity on Earth, astrophysicist ...

, the New York Giants signed Chandler as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

, but he was released before the start of the season.

Personal life

Chandler was the director of the Boys & Girls Club in

Deerfield Beach, Florida Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County line. The city is named for the numerous deer that once roamed the area. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,859. It is a principal ...

. He also serves as a football assistant coach at Anthony Aguirre Middle School in Houston, Texas.

References

External links

Thornton Chandler feels at home' in Bama jersey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Thornton 1963 births Living people William M. Raines High School alumni Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida American football tight ends Florida A&M Rattlers football players Alabama Crimson Tide football players Dallas Cowboys players