Clendon Thomas, a former Southeast High School standout who starred at running back for the Sooners before an 11-year NFL career, died Monday. He was 90.
Clendon Thomas, a former Southeast High School standout who starred at running back for Oklahoma before an 11-year NFL career, died late Monday night. He was 90.
His lifelong friend and former Sooner teammate, Chuck Bowman, shared the news with The Oklahoman.
Thomas played for coach Bud Wilkinson at OU from 1955-57 — a stretch in which the Sooners went 31-1. Thomas was a key figure on OU’s back-to-back national championship teams in 1955 and 1956.
Thomas led the nation in scoring in 1956. He finished his Sooner career with 30 rushing touchdowns and more than 2,000 rushing yards.
He played 11 NFL seasons, mostly as a defensive back, for the Rams and Steelers. He was named to the 1963 Pro Bowl.
Thomas was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2011.
“Usually guys that have won all the awards he’s won and done all the things he’s done have an ego problem,” Bowman once told The Oklahoman of Thomas. “He was always the same guy every day.”
Aside from all of his accomplishments on the gridiron, Thomas was a ground-floor member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA). In 1956, Thomas attended the FCA’s first summer conference in Estes Park, Colorado.
Services are expected to be held at Putnam City Baptist Church, but the family is still finalizing the details.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at [email protected]. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Legendary OU football running back Clendon Thomas dies at 90
Category: General Sports
