The Eagles First Iconic Signal Caller
In the Wake of Jalen Hurts’ $255 Million Contract, We Remember the Eagles Quarterback Who Led Them to the Promise Land 75 Years Ago.
Quarterbacks want the ball at the end of the game. With less than two minutes left. With everything on the line. It’s what they are built for.
Just ask Jalen Hurts.
No offense to Harry “Two Bits” Homan from the 1926 Frankford Yellow Jackets or Davey O’Brien (we’ll cover them in future pieces.)
Some NFL quarterbacks have their lives interrupted by a year out of football or a season-ending injury.
Like many young American men in the 1940s, Thomas Pryor Thompson had his career interrupted because of World War 2. Awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery in landing with Allie’s second wave on the beaches of Normandy in 1944, Thompson wasn’t drafted into the NFL. The military drafted him in 1942 instead.
Tommy joined the Steelers as a quarterback and defensive back in 1940. He became an Eagle in 1941 and rejoined the team after the war in 1945. Loaded with more talent than previous Eagles teams, Thompson joined a team ready to compete for a championship.
In 1947, Thompson helped to lead the Eagles to the NFL Championship Game. Despite leading a ferocious Eagles comeback, the Eagles fell short in Chicago 28–21. The following year in a blizzard in Shibe Park, Thompson, and Steve Van Buren architected the Eagles’ offense to a 7–0 win and the Eagles’ first NFL Championship. The following year, they would win over the Rams for a second consecutive championship.
Between 1948-1949, Tommy Thompson was a 2x NFL Passing Title Champion.
He also had a great secret to get the Eagles out of Training Camp during the summer heat.
It involved him placing a challenge on something that both he and Head Coach Earl “Greasy” Neill loved.
Suddenly, off they went to cram in 18 holes on a summer afternoon, and the Eagles team was dismissed from practice.
We cannot, however, forget the most amazing part of Tommy Thompson’s story. He was almost completely blind in his left eye from a high school javelin accident.
That’s right. Thompson stormed the beaches of Normandy, won two NFL championships, and coached, all while being partially blind.
Thompson’s last NFL season was in 1950. Over the next eight years, he coached in Chicago, Winnipeg, and Calgary. In 1953, he returned to the field for the last time for three games under center for Winnipeg.
Tommy Thompson died in 1989 in Arkansas.
He was honored with the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. Today, his legend still stands as one of only four inactive NFL quarterbacks who have not been given the honor of being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The wait continues for one of the best Eagles quarterbacks ever.
The wait should end now.
Photo: The Philadelphia Inquirer
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Categorized:Eagles Unique Columns