Legendary Giants tight end dies after long illness

Former Giants tight end Aaron Thomas died on April 26 after a long illness, the team announced on Friday. He was 86.

Thomas played with the Giants from 1962 to 1970, playing 116 regular-season games.. According to a Giants press release, he 17th in franchise history with 254 catches, 14th with 4,253 yards, and tied for sixth with 35 touchdown recpetions.

“He was very proud of and loved his years with the Giants,” Thomas’ son, Robb Thomas said. “He really liked the Mara family. They were good to him. He was always a Giants fan.”

Via the Giants’ press release:

After a standout career at Oregon State, Thomas was coached by Giants head coach Allie Sherman in the Senior Bowl. Sherman told Thomas if the Giants didn’t draft him, he would find a way to trade for Thomas. In 1961, Thomas was selected in the fourth round of the NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers and the 16th round of the American Football League draft by the Dallas Texans, who moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs in 1963. Thomas played the first two games of the 1962 season with the 49ers before Sherman made good on his promise and sent halfback Bob Gaiters to San Francisco in exchange for Thomas.

After his playing career, Thomas was a stockbroker in Los Angeles before he and his father bought a restaurant/bar/bowling alley in Yreka, Calif., about 30 miles from Weed. Thomas later moved to Oregon, where he was the head football coach at Klamath Falls High School for three years in the early 1980s. He then returned to Oregon State, where he was the assistant director of the Beaver Club from 1983-89.