Oklahoma Mourns the Death of Football Legend Clendon Thomas

Clendon Thomas, one of the foundational pieces of Bud Wilkinson’s 1950s dynasty at Oklahoma and one of the most versatile players in the history of the program, died Monday night.

Thomas, 90, grew up in Oklahoma City and was a standout at Southeast High School, where he stood out with tremendous speed to go with unusual size.

"I got do do what I dreamed about doing," Thomas told the National Football Foundation in 2011.

Wilkinson mined elite talent from all over the Sooner State while also establishing recruiting roots throughout north Texas, and he certainly didn’t hesitate to scoop up Thomas, who won two national championships, made the College Football Hall of Fame and plied his skills into an 11-year career in the NFL.

Thomas played three seasons at OU under Wilkinson (1955-57) and received All-Big Seven Conference honors as a halfback in 1956 and 1957. In 1957, he earned consensus first-team All-America honors.

Oklahoma Sooners Clendon Thomas — Oklahoma halfback Clendon Thomas | OU Athletics

In 2011, Thomas was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was the 19th overall pick in the second round of the 1958 NFL Draft.

Beyond all that, Thomas starred on offense, defense and special teams for the second half of Wilkinson’s NCAA record 47-game winning streak and was part of the group that broke the color barrier in Norman.

In Gary King’s 1988 book, “An Autumn Remembered; Bud Wilkinson’s Legendary ’56 Sooners,” King references the now infamous Sports Illustrated issue explaining “Why Oklahoma Is Unbeatable,” which quoted Thomas as proud of being part of the streak — and not wanting to be a part of the team that breaks it.

“You can’t pinpoint it (OU’s winning spirit),” Thomas said. “The guys way back started it. Then it rubs off on you. We go out and we win and we play to win. None of us wants to be on the team that ends this streak. I guess no matter what else you ever did, people would remember were on the team that lost the game that ended the streak.”

The following Saturday, Notre Dame ended the streak with a 7-0 victory in Norman.

Thomas was also teammates with fellow Oklahoma City native Prentice Gautt, who in 1957 became the first black scholarship football player at the University of Oklahoma. In a time when tensions might have run hot, Thomas was one of those who always kept a cool head.

Thomas told King, “If there were problems, there were very few. I was not aware of any. Basically, we had a whole team that accepted him. He was a good guy. They couldn’t have picked a better person to be the first black player because of his personality, his ability as a student and his ability as a player.”

Even now, 70 years after his college football career began, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Thomas — unusually big for a halfback in the 1950s — still sits at No. 23 in OU history with 2,199 rushing yards despite playing in Wilkinson’s Split T offense that was famous for spreading the football to numerous players all over the field. In his career, Thomas averaged 6.81 yards per rush, which still ranks fourth all-time at the school among OU’s top 30 rushers.

Thomas also ranks No. 25 in program history with 37 total touchdowns, and his 1956 total of 18 TDs still ranks tied for 11th in OU annals.

His 3,303 all-purpose yards (2,199 rushing, 304 receiving, 405 on punt returns, 324 on punt returns and 71 on interceptions) still ranks No. 23 in the Oklahoma history books.

As a junior in 1956, Thomas led the nation in scoring with 108 total points (18 touchdowns). Thomas led the team with 1,225 all-purpose yards, which included 878 rushing, a team-high 241 receiving yards, 178 on kickoff returns and 115 on punt returns.

As a senior, he again led Wilkinson’s squad in total offense (968 yards) and scored 10 touchdowns. He also punted 41 times and led the Sooners with a 37-yard average.

Thomas led the Sooners in kickoff returns in both ’56 and ’57, averaging 24.8 yards per runback.

He achieved two other marks that still are among the best ever at OU: Thomas’ average of 17.7 yards on punt returns (212 yards) set during his sophomore year in 1955, is tied for third as the all-time single-season mark, and his career average of 20.3 yards per punt return ranks No. 2 among the Crimson and Cream.

Thomas played in the same backfield as Gautt (a two-time All-Big Seven back and eight-year pro), Jimmy Harris (the Sooners’ winningest quarterback with a 25-0 record as the starter) and Tommy McDonald (one of just two Sooners in both the pro and college halls of fame) — and he still stood out as one of Wilkinson’s most prolific and most accomplished players.

Among Thomas’ other exploits in Norman, he rushed 13 times for 123 yards in the Sooners’ 1956 victory over Texas and finished with six career 100-yard rushing games, including a career-high 162 in the 1957 victory over Oklahoma State and 101 (on just eight carries) in a win over Nebraska.

Still, Thomas' teams at OU combined to win 31 games and lose just once.

Thomas played defensive back for 11 seasons in the NFL for the Rams (1958-61) and Steelers (1962-68) and finished his pro career with 27 interceptions for 244 return yards to go with 10 fumble recoveries and one touchdown.

A year after picking off seven passes in 1962, Thomas was recognized in 1963 for the Pro Bowl and earned second-team All-Pro honors as he brought down eight interceptions (for 122 yards).

Thomas also landed second-team All-Pro accolades in 1962, ’63, and ’66.

He remained versatile enough in the NFL to contribute on offense as well: he caught 60 passes for 1,046 yards and four touchdowns during his career, including a career-high 431 for the Steelers in 1965, and also added 63 yards receiving, 73 yards on punt returns and 552 yards on kickoff returns. He also served one game as the Rams’ punter in 1958, averaging 33.0 yards per punt.

Following his playing career, Thomas enjoyed several business ventures in Oklahoma City.