Jim Thomas (gridiron football)

Jim "Long Gone"[1] Thomas (December 18, 1938 – October 4, 2015) was an American gridiron football player and coach. He played professionally as a running back for nine seasons in the Canadian Football League CFL) with the Edmonton Eskimos. Thomas ran for 6,161 yards in his CFL career and was a two-time CFL All-Star.[2] He signed to the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL) in 1970 for a five-game trial, but returned to Edmonton.[3]

Jim Thomas

No. 12, 14, 20, 23
Thomas with the Edmonton Eskimos in 1970
Born:	(1938-12-18)December 18, 1938 Columbus, Mississippi, U.S.
Died:	October 4, 2015(2015-10-04) (aged 76) Columbus, Mississippi, U.S.
Career information
CFL status	American
Position(s)	RB
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Weight	195 lb (88 kg)
College	Mississippi Industrial College
Career history
As player
1963–1971	Edmonton Eskimos
Career highlights and awards
CFL All-Star	1966, 1967
CFL West All-Star	1965, 1966, 1967
Records	Eskimos Record Longest Run (104) – October 9, 1965

Thomas holds the record for the three longest rushing touchdowns in Eskimos history—a 104-yard run on October 9, 1965, against the BC Lions, a 100-yard run on August 2, 1966, against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and a 97-yard run on September 4, 1964, against the Ottawa Rough Riders.[4]

Thomas attended R. E. Hunt High School in Columbus, Mississippi, a segregated school for blacks only. He attended college at Mississippi Industrial College in Holly Springs, Mississippi.

After his playing career was over, Thomas earned a master's degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He coached in college at Southwestern Oklahoma State and the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) as well as Noxubee County High School, Houston High School, and in Memphis before winding up at Mississippi Valley State University.[5]

Thomas died in 2015.[6][7]