 Nobis,c. 1964 | |||||||||||||||
| No. 60 | |||||||||||||||
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| Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
| Born: | (1943-09-20)September 20, 1943 San Antonio, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Died: | December 13, 2017(2017-12-13) (aged 74) Marietta, Georgia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 240 lb (109 kg) | ||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||
| High school: | Thomas Jefferson (San Antonio, Texas) | ||||||||||||||
| College: | Texas (1963–1965) | ||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1966: 1st round,1st pick | ||||||||||||||
| AFL draft: | 1966: 1st round, 5th pick | ||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Thomas Henry Nobis Jr. (September 20, 1943 – December 13, 2017), nicknamed "Mr. Falcon", was an American professionalfootballlinebacker who played for 11 seasons with theAtlanta Falcons of theNational Football League (NFL).[1] He playedcollege football for theTexas Longhorns, where he played as a linebacker andguard, and won theMaxwell Award in 1965. He was thefirst overall selection in the1966 NFL draft.
Born and raised inSan Antonio,Texas, Nobis playedfootball atThomas Jefferson High School, where he was an all-stateoffensive end andmiddle linebacker for the Mustangs.
Nobis is one of college football's all-time greatestlinebackers. In his tenure with theTexas Longhorns (1963–1965) he averaged nearly 20tackles a game and, as the only sophomorestarter, was an important participant on the Longhorns' 1963national championship team, which defeated #2Navy led byHeisman Trophy winnerRoger Staubach in theCotton Bowl. Nobis was also a member ofKappa Alpha Order fraternity at the university.
Nobis was a two-timeAll-American and made the All-Southwest Conference team three times. As a junior in the1965 Orange Bowl, he made one of the most famous tackles in the game's history. On fourth-and-inches, and clinging to a 21–17 lead, Nobis led his teammates to a game-saving halt of top-rankedAlabama’sQBJoe Namath. Nobis was an iron man, playing (and starting) on bothdefense andoffense for his entire college career. Aside from being an All-American linebacker, he also playedguard on the offensive side of the ball and was often the primaryblocker ontouchdown runs.[2] Famed Texas headcoachDarrell Royal called him "the finest two-way player I have ever seen." A knee injury slowed him during the latter part of his senior season, but he still was able to perform at a high level and won a number of major individual awards including theKnute Rockne Award, bestlineman, theOutland Trophy, best interior lineman, and theMaxwell Award for college football's best player. Nobis also finished seventh in the Heisman voting toUSC'sMike Garrett. He appeared on the covers ofLIFE,Sports Illustrated andTIME magazines. In 1999,Sports Illustrated included him on its All-Century Team for college football.[3]
In November 1965, Nobis became the first player drafted by theexpansion Atlanta Falcons[2] as well as the second linebacker to be chosen first overall when he was taken with the #1 pick in the1966 NFL draft, held on November 27, 1965. TheHouston Oilers also selected him in theAFL draft. This presented a dilemma and also sparked a debate that reached as far as outer space whenastronautFrank Borman (a big Oilers fan), aboardGemini 7, talked back to earth with the message, "tell Nobis to sign with Houston." (Borman's sons were ball boys for the Oilers.)[4] Nobis instead signed with Atlanta on December 14 and became the first member of the Atlanta Falcons,[5][6] gaining the nickname "Mr. Falcon".
Nobis joined the Falcons for their inaugural season in1966. That season, he won the league'sNFL Rookie of the Year, was voted to thePro Bowl and amassed 294 combined tackles which still stands today as the team's all-time single-season record,[2] and is unofficially the most tackles ever credited to one player, in a season, in NFL history. In eleven professional seasons he led the Falcons in tackles nine times, went to five Pro Bowls (one in1972 after two knee surgeries), was namedAll-Pro twice and was chosen for theNFL's "All-Decade Team" for the 1960s.Miami Dolphins great,running backLarry Csonka commented, "I'd rather play againstDick Butkus than Nobis," and Falcons coachNorm Van Brocklin once pointed to Nobis' locker and proclaimed, "There's where our football team dresses."
Nobis is a member of the Atlanta Falcons' Ring of Honor. No other Falcons player has ever worn the number.[2] In 2005, he was named to theProfessional Football Researchers Association Hall of Very Good in the association's third HOVG class.[7]
Nobis enjoyed a successful NFL career that many believe is worthy ofPro Football Hall of Fame induction. Former NFL player and coachDan Reeves, whilehead coach of the Falcons, remarked, "As a running back for eight seasons in the NFL, I certainly took my share of hits. Unfortunately I remember some of them, particularly the ones from Falcons linebacker Tommy Nobis. 'Mr. Falcon,' as he is known in this part of the country, should be considered a worthy candidate for the Hall of Fame.” Reeves based his assertion on the fact that while playing in Atlanta, prior to the days of mass media coverage, Nobis was overlooked because of the “Falcons lack of success during his tenure”. He states, “I played and coached on some great teams while I was withDallas. Those teams consisted of Hall of Fame members likeBob Lilly, Roger Staubach andTom Landry. I feel that Nobis' contributions on the field merit those of the Cowboys Hall of Fame players.”[2]Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist and Hall of Fame voterFurman Bisher wrote, "There isn't much more one can say about Tommy Nobis. In the glow of a winning team, where he would have been a star on the isolated camera, he would already have been residing inCanton. It's not a Falcons thing, it's a Nobis thing, and here is a man who lives up to all the ideals I would establish for admission to the Pro Football Hall of Fame."[2] Nobis has been nominated to the Pro Football Hall of Fame several times, and was a finalist in both 2020 and 2022.[8][9]
Number 60 is also revered atTexas where it was offered only to the best of linebackers. All AmericanBritt Hager wore #60 during his senior season, as did All AmericanBrian Jones. In 2004, another Longhorn All-American linebacker,Derrick Johnson, decided to wear the jersey in his final collegiate home game to honor Nobis.[10] The number has recently joinedEarl Campbell's #20,Bobby Layne's #22,Ricky Williams' #34,Vince Young's #10 andColt McCoy's #12 as UT's only retired numbers.
Nobis was inducted into the Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor in 1976. He was named toSports Illustrated ’s All-Century Team (1869–1969)[2] and is a member of theCollege Football Hall of Fame, the State of Texas Hall of Fame, theGeorgia Sports Hall of Fame, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame, and the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame. In May 2007, he was inducted as a charter member into the Thomas Jefferson High School Alumni Hall of Fame.
Nobis retired from the Falcons after 40 years as a member of the organization, in the front office and on the field.
Apart from football, Nobis was a co-founder and a board of directors member of the Tommy Nobis Center that began in 1976. The mission of the organization is to develop and provide job training, employment, and vocational support for youth and adults with disabilities and other barriers to employment. He won theJoseph P. Kennedy, Jr. award for his work with the GeorgiaSpecial Olympics and has been named the NFL Man of the Year.
Nobis died on December 13, 2017, at home at age 74, with his wife by his side, after an extended illness.[11] On January 28, 2019, researchers from Boston University confirmed that Nobis had the most severe form ofchronic traumatic encephalopathy.[12] He is one of at least 345NFL players to be diagnosed after death with this disease, which is caused by repeated hits to the head.[13][14]
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