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Oklahoma football: Tommy McDonald, one of the all-time Sooner greats, dies at 84

By Chip Rouse

NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: Oklahoma Sooners fans cheer during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
NORMAN, OK - NOVEMBER 11: Oklahoma Sooners fans cheer during the game against the TCU Horned Frogs at Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium on November 11, 2017 in Norman, Oklahoma. Oklahoma defeated TCU 38-20. (Photo by Brett Deering/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** /
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Former Oklahoma football All-American Tommy McDonald has passed away. The announcement was made Monday by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was 84 years old.

McDonald played at Oklahoma from 1954-56, during the glory years under legendary head coach Bud Wilkinson. The Sooners were 31-0 during the time McDonald was at OU and in the middle portion of the team’s record-setting 47-game winning streak. He was a two-time All-American halfback and two-time All-Big Seven selection in 1955 and 1956, the same two seasons the Sooners won back-to-back national championships.

In the 1955 season, McDonald, who was from Albuquerque, New Mexico, became the only Oklahoma player to score a touchdown in every game of a season.

McDonald could do it all. Although he played the halfback position, he was used both as a runner and a passer and also caught passes as a receiver. In the 1956 championship season, he gained 853 yards rushing and scored 12 rushing touchdowns, had 282 receiving yards and four touchdowns and was credited with 183 passing yards and three touchdowns.

He was awarded the Maxwell Award and the Sporting News Award following the 1956 season as the college football Player of the Year. That same year, he finished third in the Heisman Trophy voting to Paul Hornung of Notre Dame and Johnny Majors of Tennessee. Ironically, the Sooners beat the Fighting Irish that season, 40-0, at Notre Dame.

At 5-foot, 9 inches, 178 pounds, McDonald was small in size, but tough as nails on the football field.

The Sooner All-American was a third-round draft selection of the NFL Philadelphia Eagles in 1957. He was drafted as a receiver and played seven of his 12 NFL seasons with the Eagles. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

"“Tommy McDonald lived like he played the game of football,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO David Baker, in an Associated Press article on Monday. “He was charismatic, passionate and had fun. Heaven is a happier place today.”"

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