John Thomas McLure (1889 – ?) was a

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 ...

and baseball player who served in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Auburn University

McClure was a prominent

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for Mike Donahue's

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year coeducational university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...

1908

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

, a year in which he was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he was selected All-Southern; Vanderbilt coach Dan McGugin describes his play: "McClure was not particularly fast, but a spirited leader, an excellent general and a sure tackler."

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

won the SIAA championship, but amidst fears of many players being ineligible under SIAA rules most sportswriters did not include them for All-Southern selection. LSU rival Tulane, which was also undefeated in conference play, accused many LSU players of professionalism. Auburn is one team listed as an alternative southern champion, for LSU was its only loss.

World War I

McClure served in the

. He declared that going over the top in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

beats charging into an opposing eleven. Such an attitude did eventually get him wounded.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McLure, Tom American football quarterbacks Auburn Tigers football players All-Southern college football players Players of American football from Alabama People from Calhoun County, Alabama 1889 births American military personnel of World War I Year of death missing