Thomas Pullen (born January 3, 1945) 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 wi ...

and

Canadian football Canadian football () is a sport played in Canada in which two teams of 12 players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide attempting to advance a pointed oval-shaped ball into the opposing team's scoring area ( ...

player. He played college football at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1965 to 1967. A native of Ottawa,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, he also played professional football in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the Ottawa Rough Riders (1968–1969, 1972–1974), the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (French: Les Alouettes de Montréal) are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has folded and been revived twice. The Alouettes compete in the East Division of the Canad ...

(1970–1971), and the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

(1975).

Early years

Pullen was born in Ottawa,

, in 1945. He attended

Glebe Collegiate Institute Glebe Collegiate Institute (GCI) is a high school in the Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Administered by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (OCDSB), Glebe Collegiate Institute has approximately 1,700 students and is the dis ...

, a high school in Ottawa, where he played football, basketball and ran track and field. He was selected as Glebe's most outstanding football player in 1961, set records in the high jump, hurdles and sprints, and led the

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 ...

team to the Ontario provincial finals. He also played goalie for the Ottawa Montagnards and was also one of the first players in Canadian Little League history to pitch a no-hit shut-out.

University of Michigan

Pullen enrolled at the

in 1965 and played college football for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1965 to 1967. He was the first Canadian to receive a full football scholarship from the school, and he became the first Canadian to letter with the Michigan football team. He played principally at the

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 ...

position for the

1965 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1965 Michigan Wolverines football team was an American football team that represented the University of Michigan in the 1965 Big Ten Conference football season. In its seventh year under head coach Bump Elliott, Michigan compiled a 4–6 ...

. Pullen graduated from the University of Michigan with degrees in science and education.

Professional football

Pullen later played seven seasons in the

with the Ottawa Rough Riders (1968–1969, 1972–1974), the

(1970–1971), and the

(1975). He had his best season in 1971 when he caught 34 passes for 487 yards and three touchdowns as a member of the Alouettes. He was a member of three consecutive Grey Cup championship teams (two with Ottawa with 1968 and 1979, and one with Montreal in 1970), and he also a fourth Grey Cup championship with Ottawa in 1973.

Later years

After retiring from football, Pullen became a teacher and basketball and track coach at Glebe Collegiate in Ottawa. He also held coaching positions with the Carleton Ravens (three years as receivers coach), Midget Nepean Rams (one year as assistant coach), and Ashbury (one season as the goalie coach). He later became a vice-president of business development for Innovative Financial Group Inc.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pullen, Tom 1945 births Living people Toronto Argonauts players Ottawa Rough Riders players Montreal Alouettes players Michigan Wolverines football players Sportspeople from Ottawa Players of Canadian football from Ontario