Thomas Henry Nobis Jr. (September 20, 1943 – December 13, 2017) was an American football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Atlanta Falcons. He played college football at the University of Texas and was the first overall selection in the 1966 NFL draft. Early years Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Nobis played football at Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was an all-state offensive end and middle linebacker for the Mustangs. College years Nobis is one of college football's all-time greatest linebackers. In his tenure with the Texas Longhorns (1963–1965) he averaged nearly 20 tackles a game and, as the only sophomore starter, was an important participant on the Longhorns' 1963 national championship team, which defeated #2 Navy led by Heisman Trophy winner Roger Staubach in the Cotton Bowl. Nobis was also a member of the Kappa Alpha Order fraternity at the university. Nobis was a two-time All-American and made the All-Southwest Conference team three times. As a junior in the 1965 Orange Bowl, he made one of the most famous tackles in the game's history. On fourth-and-inches, and clinging to a 21–17 lead, Nobis led his teammates to a game-saving halt of top-ranked Alabama’s QB Joe Namath. Nobis was an iron man, playing (and starting) on both defense and offense for his entire college career. Aside from being an All-American linebacker, he also played guard on the offensive side of the ball and was often the primary blocker on touchdown runs. Famed Texas head coach Darrell Royal called him "the finest two-way player I have ever seen." A knee injury slowed him during the latter part of his senior season, but he still was able to perform at a high level and won a number of major individual awards including the Knute Rockne Award, best lineman, the Outland Trophy, best interior lineman, and the Maxwell Award for college football's best player. Nobis also finished seventh in the Heisman voting to USC's Mike Garrett. He appeared on the covers of LIFE, Sports Illustrated and TIME magazines. NFL career In November 1965, Nobis became the first player drafted by the expansion Atlanta Falcons as well as the second linebacker to be chosen first overall when he was taken with the #1 pick in the 1966 NFL draft, held on November 27, 1965. The Houston Oilers also selected him in the AFL