Notre Dame, 1974
• 1973 Academic All-America First Team
Bob Thomas was inducted into the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame in 1996.
Bob Thomas’s impressive career took him from the classroom to the football field to the Illinois Supreme Court.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Thomas was a football and soccer star at McQuaid Jesuit High School. He also excelled academically and earned a scholarship to play football at the University of Notre Dame. Thomas was a standout kicker for the Fighting Irish from 1970 to 1974, earning Academic All-America accolades his senior year. Thomas is best known for his game-winning 19 yard field goal in the final moments of the 1973 Sugar Bowl. His kick not only gave the Irish the 24-23 victory over Alabama, but the 1973 National Championship.
Thomas graduated from Notre Dame in 1974 with a degree in government. He continued his career on the gridiron for 12 years in the NFL. Ten of his 12 NFL seasons were with the Chicago Bears, where he set the team record for field goals and points scored by a kicker. What is most impressive about Thomas is that he received his Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University School of Law in 1981, while still balancing the demands of a pro football career.
Thomas practiced civil litigation for seven years before being elected Acting Chief Judge in the Illinois state circuit court in DuPage County in 1988. He presided over civil jury trials in this position from 1989 until 1994 when he was elected to the Appellate Court Second District. Thomas was elected to the Illinois Supreme Court in 2000 and was sworn in as a Chief Justice in 2005.
In 1999, Thomas received the NCAA Silver Anniversary Award given each year by the NCAA to recognize six distinguished former student-athletes on the 25th anniversary of their graduation.