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Texas legend advises Manziel to enter NFL with humility
By Tom Orsborn
April 26, 2014 | Updated: April 26, 2014 10:58pm
SAN ANTONIO — With the NFL draft looming, University of Texas legend Tommy Nobis has some advice for former Texas A&M standout Johnny Manziel.
“Don't get too full of yourself,” said Nobis, who starred for the Longhorns from 1963-65.
If the Houston Texans select Manziel No. 1 overall on May 8, he will be forever linked with Nobis as one of three South Texans to achieve that lofty status. (In 1951, the New York Giants took Jefferson's Kyle Rote, who died in 2002, at No. 1 out of SMU.)
Nobis, a Jefferson High graduate, was the first pick in the 1966 NFL draft by the expansion Atlanta Falcons. Manziel, a Kerrville Tivy product who visited the Texans on April 22, is expected to be a top-10 pick even if Houston passes on him.
While Nobis didn't possess the star power of “Johnny Football” coming out of UT, he was the undisputed top draft prospect as a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker. He helped the Longhorns win the 1963 national championship, earned All-America honors twice and landed on the All-Southwest Conference team three times. As a senior, he won the Maxwell Award, the Outland Trophy and other prestigious honors.
Combine those accolades with Life, Sports Illustrated and other popular publications splashing pictures of him on their covers, it's easy to see how Nobis could have arrived in Atlanta with a big head.
But thanks to the guiding hand of his father, the younger Nobis entered the NFL humble and driven to succeed.
“My dad was my big advisor,” Nobis, 70, said of Tommy Nobis Sr., who died in 1975 at age 59. “He wanted me to be a man and treat other people like you are supposed to treat them.”
Nobis' pro teammates quickly placed him on a pedestal.
“I was in awe of him,” said running back Junior Coffey, who grew up in the Panhandle town of Dimmitt and led the Falcons in rushing their first two seasons.
“When you saw the neck on him, his stature, his size, even his dome, you said, 'That guy is a football player,'” said Coffey, 72. “His neck fit right into his shoulders. He was what you thought a linebacker should look like.”
In training camp, Nobis played with the passion of an undrafted rookie trying to make the team.
“He always went 100 percent in practice,” Coffey said. “He excelled at form tackling, and I remember guys telling the coaches, 'You got to take him out. He's going to hurt somebody.'
“But that was Tommy. He felt like this is why we are here, to always do your best in every aspect. That's just how he played the game. I remember thinking, 'What a beast he is.'”
Coffey also remembered Nobis as the “ultimate teammate.”
“He never wanted any special attention, and he was always trying to help everyone by performing properly,” Coffey said. “He wasn't a rah-rah type. He led by his actions.”
Nobis earned five Pro Bowl berths, was once honored as an All-Pro and was the league's defensive rookie of the year in 1966. He was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1960s, and many believe he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite Nobis' standout play, the Falcons had only two winning teams during his 11 seasons and were a horrific 6-35-1 after their first three campaigns.
Through it all, Nobis managed to maintain a positive, professional attitude.
“He always tried to cheer guys up,” Coffey said. “He wasn't a guy who just stayed to himself in a corner. I never saw him denounce a teammate. It was always positive with Tommy. He would say things like, 'I know you can do it.' He would say, 'They are going to come back this way because they made a positive gain, but we'll be ready for them this time.' We ... it was always 'we' with him.”
Nobis called getting drafted No. 1 overall a “dream come true.”
Whether or not Manziel, 21, realizes that dream, Nobis hopes he will continue “to be himself.”
“You have to have confidence in yourself,” Nobis said. “But you also have to always be open-minded and listen to people you respect.”
By Tom Orsborn
April 26, 2014 | Updated: April 26, 2014 10:58pm
SAN ANTONIO — With the NFL draft looming, University of Texas legend Tommy Nobis has some advice for former Texas A&M standout Johnny Manziel.
“Don't get too full of yourself,” said Nobis, who starred for the Longhorns from 1963-65.
If the Houston Texans select Manziel No. 1 overall on May 8, he will be forever linked with Nobis as one of three South Texans to achieve that lofty status. (In 1951, the New York Giants took Jefferson's Kyle Rote, who died in 2002, at No. 1 out of SMU.)
Nobis, a Jefferson High graduate, was the first pick in the 1966 NFL draft by the expansion Atlanta Falcons. Manziel, a Kerrville Tivy product who visited the Texans on April 22, is expected to be a top-10 pick even if Houston passes on him.
While Nobis didn't possess the star power of “Johnny Football” coming out of UT, he was the undisputed top draft prospect as a 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker. He helped the Longhorns win the 1963 national championship, earned All-America honors twice and landed on the All-Southwest Conference team three times. As a senior, he won the Maxwell Award, the Outland Trophy and other prestigious honors.
Combine those accolades with Life, Sports Illustrated and other popular publications splashing pictures of him on their covers, it's easy to see how Nobis could have arrived in Atlanta with a big head.
But thanks to the guiding hand of his father, the younger Nobis entered the NFL humble and driven to succeed.
“My dad was my big advisor,” Nobis, 70, said of Tommy Nobis Sr., who died in 1975 at age 59. “He wanted me to be a man and treat other people like you are supposed to treat them.”
Nobis' pro teammates quickly placed him on a pedestal.
“I was in awe of him,” said running back Junior Coffey, who grew up in the Panhandle town of Dimmitt and led the Falcons in rushing their first two seasons.
“When you saw the neck on him, his stature, his size, even his dome, you said, 'That guy is a football player,'” said Coffey, 72. “His neck fit right into his shoulders. He was what you thought a linebacker should look like.”
In training camp, Nobis played with the passion of an undrafted rookie trying to make the team.
“He always went 100 percent in practice,” Coffey said. “He excelled at form tackling, and I remember guys telling the coaches, 'You got to take him out. He's going to hurt somebody.'
“But that was Tommy. He felt like this is why we are here, to always do your best in every aspect. That's just how he played the game. I remember thinking, 'What a beast he is.'”
Coffey also remembered Nobis as the “ultimate teammate.”
“He never wanted any special attention, and he was always trying to help everyone by performing properly,” Coffey said. “He wasn't a rah-rah type. He led by his actions.”
Nobis earned five Pro Bowl berths, was once honored as an All-Pro and was the league's defensive rookie of the year in 1966. He was selected to the NFL's All-Decade Team for the 1960s, and many believe he should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Despite Nobis' standout play, the Falcons had only two winning teams during his 11 seasons and were a horrific 6-35-1 after their first three campaigns.
Through it all, Nobis managed to maintain a positive, professional attitude.
“He always tried to cheer guys up,” Coffey said. “He wasn't a guy who just stayed to himself in a corner. I never saw him denounce a teammate. It was always positive with Tommy. He would say things like, 'I know you can do it.' He would say, 'They are going to come back this way because they made a positive gain, but we'll be ready for them this time.' We ... it was always 'we' with him.”
Nobis called getting drafted No. 1 overall a “dream come true.”
Whether or not Manziel, 21, realizes that dream, Nobis hopes he will continue “to be himself.”
“You have to have confidence in yourself,” Nobis said. “But you also have to always be open-minded and listen to people you respect.”
