Through Aug. 23, the Star will count down the top 10 football players from each major Southern Arizona high school program:
School: Pueblo
The best: Leonard Thompson
Achievements: At the end of the 1970 high school football season, few would have expected Leonard Thompson to go on and have a 12-year NFL career. Pueblo's leading rusher finished 10th among AAA-South rushers on a 1-9 team. Coaches described him as an athletic "sleeper" and at Arizona Western College, Thompson finally sprouted into a Division I football player. He went on to rush for 841 yards on 167 carries at Oklahoma State before being selected in the eighth round of the 1975 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.
From the archives: "If he'd played on a team with a better record, I'm sure he'd have probably received more recognition." - Pueblo head coach Lou Farber, in the Dec. 27, 1974, Arizona Daily Star.
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The big number: 4,682. After three failed seasons as a running back with Detroit, a new coaching staff moved Thompson to wide receiver where he went on to gain 4,682 yards during his 12 seasons with the Lions. Thompson had 35 receiving touchdowns and started in 83 of his 175 games in the NFL.
Coming up: The top 10 players from Rincon/University will be revealed Wednesday.
Pueblo's Top 10
With rank, name, position and graduating year:
1. Leonard Thompson, RB/WR, 1971
2. Bill McKinley, TE/DE, 1967
3. David Eldridge, RB, 1985
4. Tony Hammond, RB, 1969
5. Charley Quihuis, WR/DB, 1973
6. Rudy Quihuis, FS, 1968
7. Fernando Santa Cruz, RB/LB, 1960
8. Wilbur Washington, ATH, 1989
9. John Straw, WR/DE, 1962
10. Gary Clifford, RB, 1959
