Tom Fears
Encyclopedia
Thomas Jesse Fears was a Mexican-American football
wide receiver
for the Los Angeles Rams
in the National Football League
, playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956.
, Mexico
, Fears was the son of an American mining engineer who had married a Mexican woman, and moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of six. There, he began to display his ample work ethic by unloading flowers for 25 cents an hour, and later serving as an usher at football games for double that amount.
Fears first played football at Los Angeles' Manual Arts High School, then advanced to compete for Santa Clara University
. He spent one year at the latter school before he was drafted for World War II
and spent the next three years in military service. After his father became a Japanese prisoner of war
, Fears sought to become a fighter pilot to fight Japan. He became a pilot, but was instead shipped to Colorado Springs to play football for a service team.
Upon his release, he had been drafted by the Rams in 1945, but remained in school and transferred to UCLA, winning All-American following each of his two seasons at the school. His senior campaign nearly ended in abrupt fashion in 1947, when he and some Bruin teammates were investigated for posing in local advertisements for a Los Angeles clothing store. When it was determined that Fears and the other players worked for the store, and were not identified as athletes, the matter was dropped.
The job had been one of many provided by school boosters, and included a brief bit as a pilot in the Humphrey Bogart
film, "Action in the North Atlantic." The largesse by such people led Fears to joke that his $6,000 first-year contract and $500 bonus from the Rams meant that he was taking a pay cut.
. During his first three seasons at the professional level, he led all NFL receivers in catches, and broke the league's single-season record with 77 catches in 1949.
The record would be short-lived as he increased that mark to 84 during the 1950 NFL season
, including a then-record 18 catches in one game against the Green Bay Packers
on November 12. He also helped the team advance to the NFL title game with a trio of touchdown receptions in the divisional playoff against the Chicago Bears
, winning All-Pro accolades for the second consecutive year.
During the ensuing offseason, Fears became embroiled in a contract dispute with the team for the second straight year. The year before, he hinted at leaving the team to work for General Motors Corporation, then announced on March 13, 1951 that he was retiring to work for a local liquor distributor. Neither threat materialized, and despite offers from four Canadian Football League
teams, Fears signed for $13,000.
That season, Fears played in only seven games, but helped lead the Rams to their third straight championship game appearance. After two disappointments, the franchise captured its first NFL title since moving to the West Coast
, with Fears an integral part of the title game victory when he caught the winning score. His 73-yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter broke a 17-17 deadlock with the Cleveland Browns
.
After bouncing back in 1952 with 48 receptions for 600 yards and six scores, the beginning of the end of his career began after he fractured two vertabrae in an October 18, 1953 game against the Detroit Lions
. Limited to just 23 receptions that year, he would average 40 catches the next two years, but after a preseason injury in 1956, he hauled in only five passes and retired on November 6. For the remainder of that campaign, he served as an assistant coach, finishing his playing days with 400 catches for 5,397 yards and 38 touchdowns.
's reign with the Packers. Business conflicts back in California
caused him to leave the position at midseason, but Fears resumed his coaching career the following year with the Rams under former teammate Bob Waterfield
. After two seasons in that role, Fears returned to Green Bay for a four-year stint as an assistant, where he was part of championship teams in 1962 and 1965.
Fears applied for the head coaching job with the St. Louis Cardinals (football)
after the 1965 NFL season
, but after not being chosen, he joined fellow Packer assistant Norb Hecker
, who had been named head coach of the expansion Atlanta Falcons
. In the first game of the 1966 regular season, Fears caused controversy when he accused Rams coach George Allen
of attempting to garner inside information on the team from a player that had been cut, charges that were never proven.
In 1970, Fears was recognized for his professional playing career when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
. That March, rumors of Fears replacing the departed Don Shula
with the Baltimore Colts surfaced, but Don McCafferty
was hired by the Maryland team in early April. Issues between Fears and Saints owner John Mecom, Jr., primarily Fears seeking the additional role of general manager, fueled such speculation. On April 20, the matter ended when he was given control over all player personnel matters.
Fears' tenure in his new dual roles, however, would be short, when the team ended the first half of the 1970 NFL season
with a 1-5-1 mark, resulting in his dismissal on November 3 after compiling an overall mark of 13-34-2. Ironically, his last game as coach of the Saints was a 30-17 loss to the team he played for, the Rams, the same team which defeated the Saints in their first game in 1967. In the Saints' next game, Tom Dempsey
set an NFL record by kicking a 63-yard field goal to lift New Orleans to a 19-17 victory over the Detroit Lions
.
, Fears was out of work again.
After spending 1973 off the gridiron, Fears was named head coach of the fledgling World Football League
's Southern California Sun
on January 14, 1974. The fragile financial condition of the entire league resulted in Fears leading the team for less than two years before the WFL folded in October 1975.
Fears' disappointment was soothed somewhat when he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame
in 1976, the same year he was named president of the All-Sports Council of Southern California, which helped amateur sports in the area. One year later, he returned to coaching as an assistant at San Bernardino Junior College.
During this period, he was also working as a technical adviser for movies with a football connection, and in 1979, began a football scouting service. The two roles came together in controversial fashion when Fears began working on the production of "North Dallas Forty
," a film that took a look at the sordid side of the professional game.
Fears had three clients: the Packers, Houston Oilers
and Pittsburgh Steelers
, but after the movie was released, Fears saw all three teams drop his services. Claiming that the NFL had blacklisted him, Fears spoke with league commissioner Pete Rozelle (who had worked for the Rams during Fears' playing days), but never again found work in the league.
Remaining on the fringes of the sport, Fears in 1980 worked as a coach for the Chapman College club football team, then became a part-owner of the Orange Empire Outlaws of the California Football League the following year. In 1982, he was hired as player personnel director of the new United States Football League
's Los Angeles Express. Bolstered by huge spending from team owner William Daniels, the team reached the conference championship game, but saw financial troubles doom not only the team, but the league as well.
Fears' final position in football came in 1990, when he was named head coach of the Milan franchise in the fledgling International League of American Football. Four years later, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
, spending the final six years of his life battling the disease.
Tom was the first Mexican-born NFL player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
for the Los Angeles Rams
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
, playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956.
Early life
Born in GuadalajaraGuadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, Fears was the son of an American mining engineer who had married a Mexican woman, and moved with his family to Los Angeles at the age of six. There, he began to display his ample work ethic by unloading flowers for 25 cents an hour, and later serving as an usher at football games for double that amount.
Fears first played football at Los Angeles' Manual Arts High School, then advanced to compete for Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara University is a private, not-for-profit, Jesuit-affiliated university located in Santa Clara, California, United States. Chartered by the state of California and accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, it operates in collaboration with the Society of Jesus , whose...
. He spent one year at the latter school before he was drafted for World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and spent the next three years in military service. After his father became a Japanese prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
, Fears sought to become a fighter pilot to fight Japan. He became a pilot, but was instead shipped to Colorado Springs to play football for a service team.
Upon his release, he had been drafted by the Rams in 1945, but remained in school and transferred to UCLA, winning All-American following each of his two seasons at the school. His senior campaign nearly ended in abrupt fashion in 1947, when he and some Bruin teammates were investigated for posing in local advertisements for a Los Angeles clothing store. When it was determined that Fears and the other players worked for the store, and were not identified as athletes, the matter was dropped.
The job had been one of many provided by school boosters, and included a brief bit as a pilot in the Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
film, "Action in the North Atlantic." The largesse by such people led Fears to joke that his $6,000 first-year contract and $500 bonus from the Rams meant that he was taking a pay cut.
Los Angeles Rams
Fears was the first player in NFL History to line up on the line of scrimmage, away from the tackle, thus making him the first Wide Receiver in NFL History. Selected as a defensive back by the Rams, Fears quickly made his mark as a wide receiver in 1948, while also displaying his versatility by playing on defense and at tight endTight end
The tight end is a position in American football on the offense. The tight end is often seen as a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be...
. During his first three seasons at the professional level, he led all NFL receivers in catches, and broke the league's single-season record with 77 catches in 1949.
The record would be short-lived as he increased that mark to 84 during the 1950 NFL season
1950 NFL season
The 1950 NFL season was the 31st regular season of the National Football League. The merger with the All-America Football Conference expanded the league to 13 teams. Meanwhile, television brought a new era to the game. The Los Angeles Rams became the first NFL team to have all of its games – both...
, including a then-record 18 catches in one game against the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...
on November 12. He also helped the team advance to the NFL title game with a trio of touchdown receptions in the divisional playoff against the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
, winning All-Pro accolades for the second consecutive year.
During the ensuing offseason, Fears became embroiled in a contract dispute with the team for the second straight year. The year before, he hinted at leaving the team to work for General Motors Corporation, then announced on March 13, 1951 that he was retiring to work for a local liquor distributor. Neither threat materialized, and despite offers from four Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....
teams, Fears signed for $13,000.
That season, Fears played in only seven games, but helped lead the Rams to their third straight championship game appearance. After two disappointments, the franchise captured its first NFL title since moving to the West Coast
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
, with Fears an integral part of the title game victory when he caught the winning score. His 73-yard touchdown reception midway through the fourth quarter broke a 17-17 deadlock with the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
After bouncing back in 1952 with 48 receptions for 600 yards and six scores, the beginning of the end of his career began after he fractured two vertabrae in an October 18, 1953 game against the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
. Limited to just 23 receptions that year, he would average 40 catches the next two years, but after a preseason injury in 1956, he hauled in only five passes and retired on November 6. For the remainder of that campaign, he served as an assistant coach, finishing his playing days with 400 catches for 5,397 yards and 38 touchdowns.
Packers, Rams and Falcons
Fears was out of the game for the next two years, but returned briefly as an assistant in the first year of Vince LombardiVince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas "Vince" Lombardi was an American football coach. He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight league championships and five in seven years, including winning the first two Super Bowls following the 1966 and...
's reign with the Packers. Business conflicts back in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
caused him to leave the position at midseason, but Fears resumed his coaching career the following year with the Rams under former teammate Bob Waterfield
Bob Waterfield
Robert "Bob" Stanton Waterfield was an American football player.Waterfield attended Van Nuys High School, in Van Nuys, California and went on to play college football for UCLA. In 1943 he led the Bruins to the Pacific Coast Conference football championship...
. After two seasons in that role, Fears returned to Green Bay for a four-year stint as an assistant, where he was part of championship teams in 1962 and 1965.
Fears applied for the head coaching job with the St. Louis Cardinals (football)
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
after the 1965 NFL season
1965 NFL season
The 1965 NFL season was the 46th regular season of the National Football League.Because the Green Bay Packers and Baltimore Colts ended up tied in the Western Conference standings after the regular season ended, a conference playoff game was held in Green Bay. Although the Packers had defeated the...
, but after not being chosen, he joined fellow Packer assistant Norb Hecker
Norb Hecker
Norbert Earl Hecker was an American football player and coach who was part of eight National Football League championship teams, but may be best remembered as the first head coach of the NFL's Atlanta Falcons....
, who had been named head coach of the expansion Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. In the first game of the 1966 regular season, Fears caused controversy when he accused Rams coach George Allen
George Allen (football)
George Herbert Allen was an American football coach in the National Football League and the United States Football League. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.-Early life:...
of attempting to garner inside information on the team from a player that had been cut, charges that were never proven.
New Orleans Saints
After that 2-12 first season in Atlanta, Fears became a head coach for the first time when he was hired by the expansion New Orleans Saints on January 27, 1967. He was the first Latino head coach in the NFL. Despite the promise of the team scoring on the first-ever kickoff return in franchise history, Fears' nearly four years at the helm of what became a perennial losing franchise were an exercise in frustration.In 1970, Fears was recognized for his professional playing career when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of professional football in the United States with an emphasis on the National Football League . It opened in Canton, Ohio, on September 7, 1963, with 17 charter inductees...
. That March, rumors of Fears replacing the departed Don Shula
Don Shula
Donald Francis "Don" Shula is a former American football cornerback and coach.He is best known as coach of the Miami Dolphins, the team he led to two Super Bowl victories, and to the National Football League's only perfect season. Shula was named 1993 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated....
with the Baltimore Colts surfaced, but Don McCafferty
Don McCafferty
Donald William McCafferty was an American football coach who, in his first year as head coach of the Baltimore Colts, led the team to a victory in Super Bowl V....
was hired by the Maryland team in early April. Issues between Fears and Saints owner John Mecom, Jr., primarily Fears seeking the additional role of general manager, fueled such speculation. On April 20, the matter ended when he was given control over all player personnel matters.
Fears' tenure in his new dual roles, however, would be short, when the team ended the first half of the 1970 NFL season
1970 NFL season
The 1970 NFL season was the 51st regular season of the National Football League, and the first one after the AFL-NFL Merger.The merger forced a realignment between the combined league's clubs. Because there were 16 NFL teams and 10 AFL teams, three teams needed to transfer to balance the two new...
with a 1-5-1 mark, resulting in his dismissal on November 3 after compiling an overall mark of 13-34-2. Ironically, his last game as coach of the Saints was a 30-17 loss to the team he played for, the Rams, the same team which defeated the Saints in their first game in 1967. In the Saints' next game, Tom Dempsey
Tom Dempsey
Thomas Dempsey is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints , Philadelphia Eagles , Los Angeles Rams , Houston Oilers and Buffalo Bills . He attended high school at San Dieguito High School and played college football at Palomar College...
set an NFL record by kicking a 63-yard field goal to lift New Orleans to a 19-17 victory over the Detroit Lions
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...
.
Eagles, WFL and USFL
He resurfaced in 1971, serving as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, but when head coach Ed Khayat (Fears' defensive line coach in New Orleans) was fired at the end of the 1972 NFL season1972 NFL season
The 1972 NFL season was the 53rd regular season of the National Football League. The Miami Dolphins became the first NFL team to finish a championship season undefeated and untied when they beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII.-Major rule changes:...
, Fears was out of work again.
After spending 1973 off the gridiron, Fears was named head coach of the fledgling World Football League
World Football League
The World Football League was a short-lived gridiron football league that played in 1974 and part of 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest the WFL reached was placing a team – the Hawaiians – in Honolulu, Hawaii. The...
's Southern California Sun
Southern California Sun
The Southern California Sun were an American football team based out of Anaheim, California that played in the World Football League in 1974 and 1975. Their records were 13-7 in 1974 and 7-5 in 1975. Their home stadium was Anaheim Stadium...
on January 14, 1974. The fragile financial condition of the entire league resulted in Fears leading the team for less than two years before the WFL folded in October 1975.
Fears' disappointment was soothed somewhat when he was named to the College Football Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. Located in South Bend, Indiana, it is connected to a convention center and situated in the city's renovated downtown district, two miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. It is slated to move...
in 1976, the same year he was named president of the All-Sports Council of Southern California, which helped amateur sports in the area. One year later, he returned to coaching as an assistant at San Bernardino Junior College.
During this period, he was also working as a technical adviser for movies with a football connection, and in 1979, began a football scouting service. The two roles came together in controversial fashion when Fears began working on the production of "North Dallas Forty
North Dallas Forty (film)
North Dallas Forty is a 1979 dramatic film starring Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, and G. D. Spradlin. It was directed by Ted Kotcheff and based on the best selling novel by Peter Gent: the screenplay was by Kotcheff, Gent, Frank Yablans and Nancy Dowd ....
," a film that took a look at the sordid side of the professional game.
Fears had three clients: the Packers, Houston Oilers
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Previously known as the Houston Oilers, the team began play in 1960 as a charter...
and Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, but after the movie was released, Fears saw all three teams drop his services. Claiming that the NFL had blacklisted him, Fears spoke with league commissioner Pete Rozelle (who had worked for the Rams during Fears' playing days), but never again found work in the league.
Remaining on the fringes of the sport, Fears in 1980 worked as a coach for the Chapman College club football team, then became a part-owner of the Orange Empire Outlaws of the California Football League the following year. In 1982, he was hired as player personnel director of the new United States Football League
United States Football League
The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...
's Los Angeles Express. Bolstered by huge spending from team owner William Daniels, the team reached the conference championship game, but saw financial troubles doom not only the team, but the league as well.
Fears' final position in football came in 1990, when he was named head coach of the Milan franchise in the fledgling International League of American Football. Four years later, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
, spending the final six years of his life battling the disease.
Tom was the first Mexican-born NFL player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
External links
- Pro Football Hall of Fame: Member profile
- http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CEFD7133BF93BA35752C0A9669C8B63 New York Times Obit