Thomas Anthony Franckhauser (May 26, 1937 – April 17, 1997) 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 ...

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

who played 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 Los Angeles Rams, 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 ...

, and 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 ...

. He played college football at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

Early years

Known as "Knute", Franckhauser was born in

Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Ohio River 33 miles west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 census. The city's name is derived from Fort Steuben, a ...

, and played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

there at Catholic Central High School. He accepted a scholarship from

, where he became a three-year starter at

offensive end An end in American and Canadian football is a player who lines up at either end of the line of scrimmage, usually beside the tackles. Rules state that a legal offensive formation must always consist of seven players on the line of scrimmage and ...

. In 1957, he helped his team upset Michigan State University, which was ranked number one in the nation at the time. As a senior, he was named the team's MVP.

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Franckhauser was selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the third round (33rd overall) of the

1959 NFL Draft The 1959 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on December 1, 1958, and its final twenty-six rounds on January 21, 1959. Both sessions were held at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia. With the first overall pick in the dr ...

. As a rookie, he was moved to

, before finishing the season as a starter at

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

. He tied for the team lead with 3 interceptions.

Dallas Cowboys

He was selected by the

in the 1960 NFL Expansion Draft. He became the first player in Dallas Cowboys history to

carry Carry or carrying may refer to: People *Carry (name) Finance * Carried interest (or carry), the share of profits in an investment fund paid to the fund manager * Carry (investment), a financial term: the carry of an asset is the gain or cost of h ...

the football during a regular season game as he returned the opening

kickoff Kickoff or kick-off may refer to * Kick-off (association football) * Kickoff (gridiron football) * ''Kick Off'' (series), a series of computer association football games * ''Kick Off'' (album), a 1985 album by Onyanko Club * ''Kick Off'' (mag ...

in their inaugural regular season game. He also became the first starter at left cornerback in franchise history. He registered 45 tackles, 13 passes defensed, 3 interceptions (tied for the team lead), 25 kickoff returns for an average of 19.8 yards and 3 punt returns. In

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

, he was passed on the depth chart by Warren Livingston. He was activated on November 7 and played in only 6 games (4 starts), after Livingston was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. On December 31, he was traded to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in exchange for punter Sam Baker.

Cleveland Browns

In September

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wor ...

, he was traded along with offensive tackle

Errol Linden Errol Joseph Linden (October 21, 1937 – March 10, 1983) was a National Football League (NFL) offensive tackle. Linden was selected in the tenth round by the Detroit Lions out of the University of Houston in the 1961 NFL Draft and played t ...

, offensive end Charley Ferguson and placekicker

Fred Cox Frederick William Cox (December 11, 1938 – November 20, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a kicker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings. After playing college football for ...

, to the

in exchange for a sixth round selection (#72-Ernie Borghetti).

Minnesota Vikings

, he was one of the key players in the

defense, finishing the year with 4 interceptions (tied for third on the team). In

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

, he suffered a near fatal brain injury while tackling rookie Bill McWatters in a training camp scrimmage. He would be lost for the season and forced into early retirement.

Personal life

On April 17, 1997, he died of a heart attack. His first cousin was

Danny Abramowicz Daniel Stanley Abramowicz (born July 13, 1945) is a former American football player and coach. He played wide receiver in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers and college football at Xavier University. ...

, who played college football at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

and professionally as an original New Orleans Saint. His twin grandsons, Walker Hume and

Tucker Hume Tucker Hume (born August 22, 1993) is an American soccer forward. He has a twin brother Walker Hume. Playing career In February 2017, Hume signed with Ottawa Fury FC in the United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly know ...

, were both professional soccer players with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

and

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were dis ...

respectively.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franckhauser, Tom 1937 births 1997 deaths Sportspeople from Steubenville, Ohio Players of American football from Ohio American football cornerbacks Purdue Boilermakers football players Los Angeles Rams players Dallas Cowboys players Minnesota Vikings players