In Canada, he was known as Jim “Long Gone” Thomas, who as a running back for the Canadian Football League’s Edmonton Eskimos once ran a franchise record 104-yard touchdown and holds the record for the three longest scoring runs in team history.
But back home in Columbus, he was affectionately and simply known as “T.”
James “T” Thomas died Sunday. He was 76.
“He was a swell guy,” said former Columbus city councilman Fred Stewart, who played with Thomas at R.E. Hunt High School. “He was one of the best running backs Hunt ever had and he was even better in college. Off the field, he was a great guy. If he could help you, he would do it.”
On to stardom
After graduating from Hunt in 1958, both Stewart and Thomas headed to Holly Springs.
“I went to Rust College and ‘T’ went to Mississippi Industrial College, which was right across the street,” Stewart said.
M.I., as it was known, closed in 1982.
Thomas was a three-sport star at M.I. (football, baseball and track). After graduation, he played briefly for the Dallas Cowboys and later with the Los Angeles Rams, but he spent the bulk of his professional career in the CFL. His name is still prominent in Edmonton’s record books. In addition to having the three longest scoring runs in team history, Thomas is third on the all-time rushing list (6,161 yards), sixth in TD runs (36) and 10th in total touchdowns (51). He was a two-time All-CFL player and was name CFL West Division All-Star in each of his nine season. He retired after the 1971 season.
Stewart said Thomas’ success as a pro was no surprise to him.
“At Hunt, I played right tackle and I think ‘T’ played left halfback,” he said. “He ran behind right tackle mostly. The only time he ran behind me was when he ran a trap play. What I remember is that if you batted your eyes he was in the end zone. He was one of the best backs you ever saw.”
Coaching career
After his playing career ended, he earned his masters in education at Southwestern Oklahoma State and began a coaching career that would eventually reunite him with an old childhood friend.
Thomas’ coaching career include college jobs at Southwestern Oklahoma State and high school positions at Noxubee County, Houston, Mississippi and Memphis. He was head coach at Mississippi Valley State University from 1978-79, posting an overall record of 10-8-1.
A few years later, Thomas was working as athletic director at Mary Holmes College in West Point, when an old friend called.
It was Billy Brewer, who had just accepted the job as head coach at Ole Miss.
“I think ‘T’ was one of the first calls I made when I got the job,” Brewer said.
Brewer grew up as the only white kid in his Columbus neighborhood, but quickly found a friend in the affable, talented Thomas.
“I think I ate as many meals at T’s house as I did my own,” Brewer recalled. “We were 12 or 13, maybe even younger. I don’t remember exactly. But I do remember there off 14th Avenue, over there by the creosote plant there was a big sawdust pile. Every Sunday afternoon, we’d go out there and play football with this big old fat football — short pants, no shirts, barefoot. I was the only white boy that got to play because I was with T.”
Even then, Thomas was noted for his energy and upbeat attitude, Brewer said.
“I remember that he worked as a caddy at Columbus Country Club,” he said.
In the obituary provided by Lee-Sykes funeral home, Thomas’ youngest daughter, Audrey, shared a conversation she once had with her father about why he worked as a caddy.
“They were selling peanut butter crackers for a penny apiece,” Thomas told his daughter. “I didn’t have a penny. So I vowed that day I would never be broke. So I started my little hustle at the County Club so I would never be broke and never had to ask anybody for anything.”
In 1983, it was his old childhood friend that was doing the asking.
“I knew I wanted ‘T’ on my staff,” Brewer said. “He was such an upbeat guy and had so much energy and a great personality. I knew that would make him a great recruiter and it did. He recruited some places in Memphis and down in Florida. He got a lot of good players for us out of Florida. Every kid he got from down there turned out to be a good player.”
Thomas served as Brewer’s tight end coach from 1983-1991.
A beloved figure
Assistant coaches are often an anonymous bunch. Not so with Thomas.
“Ole Miss people just loved him,”‘ Brewer said. “He was fun to be around. He was a live wire and funny, too. He’s have all these sayings. He would be talking about some receiver and he’d say, ‘That guy can catch a bee-bee in the dark,’ and, ‘This guy can catch a gnat in the sunshine.’ He was a one of a kind.”
Brewer said he visited Thomas on Friday.
“I knew he was in trouble,” Brewer said. “He gotten to the point where he stopped eating and he looked like he weighed, maybe, 150 pounds. Late that Saturday night or early Sunday morning, he was gone.”
“Long Gone,” as they remembered him in Canada.
And long to be remembered on both sides of the border.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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