Thomas J. Newberry (born December 20, 1962) 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 ...

guard from

Onalaska, Wisconsin Onalaska is a city in La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 18,803 at the 2020 census. It borders the larger La Crosse, Wisconsin, and is a part of the La Crosse-Onalaska, WI-MN Metropolitan Area. Onalaska is built on ...

who played ten seasons 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 ...

with the Los Angeles Rams for nine years and the Pittsburgh Steelers for one year. He was a starter for the Steelers in Super Bowl XXX. He was a two-time (1988,1989)

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

and NFL All-Pro offensive guard. Newberry was named to the Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame in 2015

College career

After graduating from Onalaska High School, Newberry attended the

University of Wisconsin–La Crosse The University of Wisconsin–La Crosse (UWL or UW Lax) is a public university in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Established in 1909, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System and offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. With 9,600 un ...

on an academic scholarship. Newberry was a four year starter and letter winner on the offensive line for the

Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football The Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse located in the La Crosse, Wisconsin. Wisconsin–La Crosse competes at the NCAA Division III level and is ...

team under head coach Roger Harring. He was also a captain of the 1985

NAIA Division II Football National Championship The NAIA Division II Football National Championship was a post-season playoff system featuring the best NAIA Division II college football teams in the United States. It was played annually between 1970 and 1996 when NAIA football play was divided ...

winning team. While at UW–L he was a four time NCAA Division III National Champion in track and field, three times in shot put and one time in discus. He was inducted into the UW–L Wall of Fame in 1997

Professional career

Los Angeles Rams

Newberry was drafted in the second round 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 ...

by the Los Angeles Rams. In his rookie season, Newberry started in 14 regular season games, and played in all 16 games, as well as starting in the Rams playoff game. Newberry was selected to the 1986 PFWA All-Rookie Team. Over his nine seasons with the Rams, Newberry played in 136 games, starting in 133 games including playoffs. With the Rams Newberry was selected to the 1988 All-Pro Team and

1989 All-Pro Team The 1989 All-Pro Team is composed of the National Football League players that were named to the Associated Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Pro Football Writers Association, Pro Football Weekly, and ''The Sporting News The ''Sporting N ...

. Additionally, Newberry was a member of the

1989 Pro Bowl The 1989 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 39th annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1988 season. The game was played on Sunday, January 29, 1989, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii before a crowd of 50,113. The final ...

and

1990 Pro Bowl The 1990 Pro Bowl was the NFL's fortieth annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1989 season. The game was played on Friday, February 2, 1990, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii before a crowd of 50,445. The fin ...

. Newberry made the playoffs three times with the Rams (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 **Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal enter ...

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

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 ...

Pittsburgh Steelers

In 1995 Newberry played his final season with the Pittsburgh Steelers starting in 15 regular season games, and playing in all 16 regular season games compiling a 11–5–0 record and winning the AFC Central Division. Newberry started in all three playoff games, beating the Indianapolis Colts in the

1995 AFC Championship Game The 1995 AFC Championship Game was the championship game for the American Football Conference for the 1995 season. The game was played on January 14, 1996, at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, who hosted the In ...

by a score of 20–16, before losing to 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 ...

in Super Bowl XXX 17–27. Shortly after the Super Bowl, Newberry informed head coach

Bill Cowher William Laird Cowher (born May 8, 1957) is an American sports analyst, former football player and coach. Following a six-year playing career as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL), he served as a head coach in the NFL for 15 se ...

that he planned to retire.

References

1962 births Living people Sportspeople from La Crosse, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts American football offensive guards Wisconsin–La Crosse Eagles football players Los Angeles Rams players Pittsburgh Steelers players National Conference Pro Bowl players Players of American football from Wisconsin People from Onalaska, Wisconsin {{offensive-lineman-1960s-stub