21 Facts About Tom Fears

Thomas Jesse Fears was a Mexican-American professional football player who was a split end for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League, playing nine seasons from 1948 to 1956.

Tom Fears was later an NFL assistant coach and head coach of the New Orleans Saints, and is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tom Fears played college football for the UCLA Bruins football team and is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame.

The family moved to Los Angeles when Tom Fears was age six.

Tom Fears first played football at Los Angeles' Manual Arts High School, where he met Toby Freedman of Beverly Hills High School.

Tom Fears spent one year at the school before being drafted in World War II and spent the next three years in military service.

Tom Fears became a pilot, but was instead shipped to Colorado Springs to play football for a service team.

Tom Fears quickly made his mark as a wide receiver in 1948, while displaying his versatility by playing on defense and at split end.

Tom Fears 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.

That season, Tom Fears played in only seven games, but helped lead the Rams to their third straight championship game appearance.

Tom Fears was out of the game for the next two years, but returned briefly as an assistant in the first year of Vince Lombardi's reign with the Packers.

Business conflicts back in California caused him to leave the position at midseason, but Tom Fears resumed his coaching career the following year with the Rams under former teammate Bob Waterfield.

Tom Fears applied for the head coaching job with the St Louis Cardinals 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.

Tom Fears was the first Latino head coach in the NFL.

In 1970, Tom Fears was recognized for his professional playing career when he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Tom Fears resurfaced in 1971, serving as offensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles, but when head coach Ed Khayat was fired at the end of the 1972 NFL season, Fears was out of work again.

The fragile financial condition of the entire league resulted in Tom Fears leading the team for less than two years before the WFL folded in October 1975.

Tom Fears's 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.

Tom Fears had three clients: the Packers, Houston Oilers and Pittsburgh Steelers, but after the movie was released, Tom Fears saw all three teams drop his services.

Tom Fears died from complications of the disease at a care home in Palm Desert, California, on January 4,2000, at the age of 77.

Tom Fears was the first Mexico-born NFL player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.