James Neal Thomason (March 28, 1920 – August 4, 2007) was an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player and coach. A native of

Brownwood, Texas Brownwood is a city in and the county seat of Brown County, Texas, United States. The population was 18,862 as of th2020 census Brownwood is in the Texas Hill Country and is home to Howard Payne University, which was founded in 1889. History ...

, was Thomason played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

and was a member of the 1939 Texas A&M Aggies football team, which won a

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

. He was selected in the first round with the fifth overall selection by 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 the

1941 NFL draft The 1941 NFL draft was held on December 10, 1940, at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Bears selected halfback Tom Harmon. The Bears selected 24 players, but forfeited their final fou ...

. Thomason served as an officer in the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was head coach of the 1943 Greenville Army Air Base Jay Birds football team. Thomason later worked as an accountant in Brownwood. He died on August 4, 2007, at this home in

Brenham, Texas Brenham ( ) is a city in east-central Texas, United States, and the county seat of Washington County, with a population of 17,369 according to the 2020 U.S. census. Brenham is also known for its annual German heritage festival that takes pl ...

Head coaching record

References

External links

* * 1920 births 2007 deaths American accountants American football halfbacks Detroit Lions players Texas A&M Aggies football players United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II Sportspeople from Brownwood, Texas Coaches of American football from Texas Players of American football from Texas Military personnel from Texas 20th-century American sportsmen {{runningback-1920s-stub