[Kid Shelleen]

I am taking a break from my NFL boycott to honor a Hall of Fame receiver and an even better man.

[pelican001]

When we were kids we would run a pass pattern that we heard about from somewhere - the “Tommy McDonald TD Special”. It was perfect for man-on-man coverage, and I scored more than a few TD’s with that one.

[Jolla]

One of my favorite jokes is an old baseball player sitting on his porch, a fella comes walking up the street and the old man kind-of recognizes him, then he stops and comes up the walk - the guy on the porch eyes pop wide and he said Bob I thought you were dead - Bob says well, I am and I have good news and bad news - heaven is beautiful, we play two games every day sometimes we win, sometimes we lose, the old man says, thats great whats the bad news, he said your pitching on Tuesday.

[gnickgnack2]

Might still have my copy of his book They Pay Me to Catch Footballs!

[Paine in the Neck]

Last guy to play in the NFL without a faceguard.

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP.

[Psalm 73]

Bummer. Pats could have used him....

[mkmensinger]

I met him at a local supermarket when I was a lad. Nice guy. He took time to talk to a kid who was probably disrupting his day.

[OKSooner]

Lots of good to say about Tommy McDonald. He could run, throw, catch, and play defense. An all-around athlete, the likes of which we don't see in our time.

He was NEVER ON THE LOSING END OF A FOOTBALL GAME during his three years at OU.

Played WR for the Browns, ironically, and was the last guy in the NFL to NOT use a faceguard who wasn't a kicker.

Also those who knew him say he was a cool guy.

RIP

[Jimmy Valentine]

If my memory serves he was the last player to play without a face guard.

[Bonemaker]

Oklahoma was undefeated under Bud Wilkinson while he was there. Same team as Jerry Tubbs.

[Prov1322]

My favorite as a kid, along with Timmy Brown.

Detailed piece here...

Tommy McDonald, Eagles Hall of Famer, dies

"On Oct. 4, 1959, one week after he'd broken his jaw and had it wired shut, Mr. McDonald caught touchdown passes of 33, 55 and 19 yards and scored on an 81-yard punt return in a 49-21 rout of the New York Giants."

[Songcraft]

RIP.

That one great Eagles team he was on included Chuck Bednarik and Tom Brookshier.  (Back then, nobody took a knee during the National Anthem.)

[llevrok]

There was a SI photo of him after he got blasted after a catch. He was sitting on the turf, stunned, helmet missing but holding the ball.

As kids, we’d make a tough catch in the back yard and emulate that pose.

I doubt today’s little jam tarts would even play outside so we’ll never see that stuff again