Thornton Chandler (born November 27, 1963) is an American former 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 ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

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(NFL) for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

. He 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 ...

at the

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, the Capstone, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of ...

Early life

Chandler attended William M. Raines High School, where he was switched from

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

, after he grew up to 6–5 feet and 240 pounds as a freshman. As a senior he received

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors. Against Lake City High School, he had 10 receptions for 170 yards and 2

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He received All-City honors twice, even though he was mostly a blocker in his team's

wishbone offense The wishbone formation, also known simply as the bone, is an offensive formation in American football. The style of attack to which it gives rise is known as the wishbone offense. Like the spread offense in the 2000s to the present, the wishbone ...

, finishing his career with 29 receptions and 4

s. As a freshman at

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

, he played the flanker and

positions, before deciding to transfer to the

after just two games. At Alabama he was named the starter in 1983 and became an accomplished blocking

in the team's run-oriented offense. In 1985, he was the team's third-leading receiver, registering 16 receptions for 244 yards. In 32 games, he posted 32 receptions for 504 yards (15.8-yard average) and 2

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Chandler was selected by the

in the sixth round (140th overall) of the

1986 NFL draft The 1986 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 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott M ...

. As a rookie, his first 2 receptions went for

s. He was Doug Cosbie’s backup for two years, until earning the starting job in the fifth game of the 1988 season. The next year Thornton broke his wrist playing

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, before the start of training camp which affected his play. This resulted in losing his starting job to Steve Folsom and eventually being waived on October 18,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

. In three-plus seasons, Thornton was mostly known for his blocking ability. He recorded 29 receptions for 268 yards and 4

New York Giants

On April 12,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

signed Chandler as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, but he was released before the start of the season.

Personal life

Chandler was the director of the Boys & Girls Club in

Deerfield Beach, Florida Deerfield Beach is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States, just south of the Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County line. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 86,859, making it the Broward County# ...

. He also serves as a

assistant coach at Anthony Aguirre Middle School in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. His son Kolby was on the 13th season of USA version of

MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking show television format created by Franc Roddam, which originated with MasterChef (British TV series), the British version in July 1990. The show aims to discover the culinary talent of chefs of varying sk ...

References

External links

Thornton Chandler feels at home' in Bama jersey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandler, Thornton 1963 births Living people American football tight ends Alabama Crimson Tide football players Dallas Cowboys players Florida A&M Rattlers football players William M. Raines High School alumni Players of American football from Jacksonville, Florida