William Hugh Tobin (February 16, 1941 – April 19, 2024) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and executive in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). Tobin played

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for one season with the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

. He later became director of player personnel for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

in 1987 and the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

in 2001 and the general manager of the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in 1994.

Early life and education

William Hugh Tobin was born on February 16, 1941, in Maryville, Missouri, on a farm near Burlington Junction, Missouri, where his brother Vince was also born. Their father Ed Tobin was a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

captain at the Conception Junction, Missouri high school. The brothers both attended Maryville High School, from Burlington Junction, but the family thought their sports prospects would be much better in the much bigger school (they commuted to the school). The brothers, who were two years apart in age, played on the

teams at the same time both in Maryville and at the University of Missouri football team. Bill played on the 1959 Maryville basketball team that was undefeated until losing the State Class M title game. Tobin attended the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...

, where he played in the Tigers'

backfield The offensive backfield is the area of an American football field behind the line of scrimmage, and players positioned there on offense who begin plays behind the line, typically including the quarterback and running backs ( halfbacks and full ...

next to

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Jim Johnson.

Career

As a player

Tobin was drafted in the 14th round of the 1963 NFL draft by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. Instead of playing for the 49ers, he played for the

in the AFL for one season and then played in the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

for a few seasons.

As an executive

Tobin spent 27 years as a front office executive with the

and

. Tobin was involved in drafting six Hall of Famers who played for the 1985 Chicago Bears. He was named the director of player personnel for the Bears in 1987. His first draft pick as director of player personnel was Jim Harbaugh. The Bears had four playoff appearances while Tobin was director of player personnel. His tenure as Chicago's director of player personnel ended in 1992. Tobin was the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts from 1994 to 1996. During his time with the Colts, he drafted future Hall of Famers

Marshall Faulk Marshall William Faulk (born February 26, 1973) is an American former professional American football, football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons and is the current running backs coach at the Colorado ...

and

Marvin Harrison Marvin Darnell Harrison Sr. (born August 25, 1972) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played his entire 13 year career for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for ...

. He also drafted Ken Dilger, Tarik Glenn, and Adam Meadows, who would be cornerstones of the Colts

offensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

, and Pro Bowl defensive backs Ray Buchanan and Ashley Ambrose. He built a team in

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

that included Jim Harbaugh, who in 1995 led the NFL in passing. The Colts had a very surprising and successful run to the 1995 AFC Championship Game; the run included the first playoff win for the Colts since

Super Bowl V Super Bowl V was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 1970 Baltimore Colts season, Baltimore Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 1970 Dallas Cowboys season, Dallas Cowboys ...

, a span of twenty-five years. Tobin was replaced as Colts general manager in 1997 by Bill Polian. Tobin was the director of player personnel for the Detroit Lions from 2001 to 2002. Tobin worked as a scout for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

for two decades. His son, Duke Tobin, is the team's director of player personnel. Tobin was the brother of former NFL coach Vince Tobin.

Mel Kiper incident

While he was the general manager of the Indianapolis Colts, Tobin gained some notoriety during the television broadcast of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 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 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

after being criticized by

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

analyst Mel Kiper Jr. for picking

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

Trev Alberts with the fifth pick in the draft (that year, the Colts had both the 2nd and 5th pick, with the Colts drafting

prior to Alberts), instead of Fresno State

Trent Dilfer Trent Farris Dilfer (born March 13, 1972) is an American football coach and former quarterback who is the head coach for the UAB Blazers football team. Dilfer previously played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He achieved ...

. While he was being interviewed by ESPN later in the broadcast, Tobin famously said "Who in the hell is Mel Kiper anyway?!" Tobin later called a press conference where he ranted about Kiper for several minutes, stating that Kiper had been biased against the Colts ever since they moved from Baltimore, Kiper's home.

Death

Tobin died in Indianapolis on April 19, 2024, at age 83.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tobin, Bill 1941 births 2024 deaths American football running backs Edmonton Elks players Houston Oilers players Indianapolis Colts executives Missouri Tigers football players People from Nodaway County, Missouri Players of American football from Missouri American Football League players