{"id":18374,"date":"2017-02-16T11:22:54","date_gmt":"2017-02-16T16:22:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/?p=18374"},"modified":"2017-02-17T13:17:45","modified_gmt":"2017-02-17T18:17:45","slug":"legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Legends On &#038; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Clyde Thomas was an all-state athlete in basketball and football at Bellaire High School. After having a stellar High School career, he started at running back for Ohio in the 1958 OVAC All-Star Football Game, alongside quarterback John Havlicek, the future Boston Celtics legend.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Thomas-2.jpg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-18377\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Thomas-2-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Thomas-2-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Thomas-2.jpg 412w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" \/><\/a>Clyde played college football for Ohio University, and starred on the undefeated Mid-American Conference Championship team as a senior in 1960. An All-American, Clyde was mentioned in a 1960 issue of Sports Illustrated as &#8220;being the biggest frog in a small pond&#8221; after helping Ohio University win a Conference Championship, and a Small School National Championship (an award that no longer exists today).<\/p>\n<p>He went on to have a successful career as a professional athlete. His professional career begin with the Vancouver British Columbia Lions-Canadian Football League in 1961. In 1964, Clyde began playing with the Wheeling Ironmen, a local semi-professional football headquartered in Wheeling, WV. In 1965, Clyde made way into the NFL and signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. He returned to Wheeling in 1965 to play for the Ironmen, where he would play through the 1969 season. When he retired from the Ironmen he was the franchise\u2019s all-time rushing leader. Clyde Thomas was inducted into the American Football Association\u2019s Minor Football Hall of Fame in 2000.<\/p>\n<p>After retiring from football, Clyde ran for City Council, won by a landslide, and served the City of Wheeling for more than 20 years as an elected official. Also serving as vice-mayor, he helped get the Wheeling Civic Center built, and led the proposal for a downtown Wheeling shopping mall. He was the first and, to date, the only African American ever elected to Wheeling\u2019s City Council.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thomas-3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-18376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thomas-3-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thomas-3-300x189.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thomas-3-600x377.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/thomas-3.jpg 641w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Clyde was a former Vice Chairman and a member of the Board of Directors at West Liberty State College. \u00a0He continued to serve Wheeling in many aspects as he was appointed as Vice Chairman and board member of the Wheeling Municipal Auditorium Board. Later he was appointed by Governor of West Virginia of Board of Insurance and Risk Management due to his vast knowledge and insurance experience. Clyde Thomas was a member of the Hall of Fame Board and a member of the National Football League Players Association. He served as\u00a0a Chapter Vice President for the NFL.<\/p>\n<p>Clyde Thomas died in 2006, but will always be remembered as a true pioneer of success in the Ohio Valley.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Clyde Thomas was an all-state athlete in basketball and football at Bellaire High School. After having a stellar High School career, he started at running back for Ohio in the 1958 OVAC All-Star Football Game, alongside quarterback John Havlicek, the future Boston Celtics legend. Clyde played college football for Ohio University, and starred on the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-college","category-professional"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Legends On &amp; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Legends On &amp; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Clyde Thomas was an all-state athlete in basketball and football at Bellaire High School. After having a stellar High School career, he started at running back for Ohio in the 1958 OVAC All-Star Football Game, alongside quarterback John Havlicek, the future Boston Celtics legend. Clyde played college football for Ohio University, and starred on the [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Ohio Valley Athletics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ohiovalleyathletics\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"631\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"451\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OVathletics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OVathletics\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/e66db9eae7163918283827dcfcfa9b72\"},\"headline\":\"Legends On &#038; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\"},\"wordCount\":396,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"College Sports\",\"Professional Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\",\"name\":\"Legends On & Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg\",\"width\":631,\"height\":451},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Legends On &#038; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/\",\"name\":\"Ohio Valley Athletics\",\"description\":\"The Ohio Valley&#039;s #1 site for local Sports Talk!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Ohio Valley Athletics\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tsalkovick-A.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tsalkovick-A.png\",\"width\":960,\"height\":167,\"caption\":\"Ohio Valley Athletics\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ohiovalleyathletics\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/OVathletics\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/e66db9eae7163918283827dcfcfa9b72\",\"name\":\"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c692ada8939d2c454188566f8329e1bb06f693ec298b50080d8371f624c943af?s=96&r=x\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c692ada8939d2c454188566f8329e1bb06f693ec298b50080d8371f624c943af?s=96&r=x\",\"caption\":\"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF\"},\"description\":\"This article was a provided public press release from one of our affiliate publications and\/or schools.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/ovathletics\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/author\/ovathleticscom\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Legends On & Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Legends On & Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics","og_description":"Clyde Thomas was an all-state athlete in basketball and football at Bellaire High School. After having a stellar High School career, he started at running back for Ohio in the 1958 OVAC All-Star Football Game, alongside quarterback John Havlicek, the future Boston Celtics legend. Clyde played college football for Ohio University, and starred on the [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/","og_site_name":"Ohio Valley Athletics","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ohiovalleyathletics\/","article_published_time":"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":631,"height":451,"url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@OVathletics","twitter_site":"@OVathletics","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/"},"author":{"name":"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/e66db9eae7163918283827dcfcfa9b72"},"headline":"Legends On &#038; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas","datePublished":"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/"},"wordCount":396,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg","articleSection":["College Sports","Professional Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/","name":"Legends On & Off The Field: Clyde Thomas - Ohio Valley Athletics","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg","datePublished":"2017-02-16T16:22:54+00:00","dateModified":"2017-02-17T18:17:45+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/Clyde-Thomas.jpg","width":631,"height":451},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/legends-on-off-the-field-clyde-thomas\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Legends On &#038; Off The Field: Clyde Thomas"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/","name":"Ohio Valley Athletics","description":"The Ohio Valley&#039;s #1 site for local Sports Talk!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#organization","name":"Ohio Valley Athletics","url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tsalkovick-A.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/tsalkovick-A.png","width":960,"height":167,"caption":"Ohio Valley Athletics"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ohiovalleyathletics\/","https:\/\/x.com\/OVathletics"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/e66db9eae7163918283827dcfcfa9b72","name":"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c692ada8939d2c454188566f8329e1bb06f693ec298b50080d8371f624c943af?s=96&r=x","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c692ada8939d2c454188566f8329e1bb06f693ec298b50080d8371f624c943af?s=96&r=x","caption":"OVATHLETICS.COM STAFF"},"description":"This article was a provided public press release from one of our affiliate publications and\/or schools.","sameAs":["http:\/\/twitter.com\/ovathletics"],"url":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/author\/ovathleticscom\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18374"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18385,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18374\/revisions\/18385"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ovathletics.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}