Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Ed Thomas Dead at 58

What a complete waste...

"Ed Thomas, a high school football coach who helped launch the careers of four current NFL linemen, was gunned down by a former player Wednesday morning in front of students participating in an offseason workout, authorities in Parkersburg, Iowa said."
The suspect was arrested and taken in for a psych eval the prior weekend.

I knew Ed Thomas from my days working at KLMJ in Hampton. One of my fondest memories in broadcasting was covering the Class 2A Championship game in the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls. Thomas's Aplington-Parkersburg Falsons lost to the Iowa Falls Cadets 20-13, but that in no way changes the man's legacy. I had the pleasure of talking to him on many occasions, and he always struck me as a man who was deeply committed, had great intensity, but maintained perspective in life, too. Jared DeVries, who now plays for the Lions, put it best when I interviewed him on the occasion of A-P retiring his jersey. He said Coach Thomas did a great job of raising not just great players, but great men, too.

What a waste.

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