As great a football player as Bill "Thunder" Thornton was, those who knew him best would say he was an even better human being.

Thornton, a Libbey and University of Nebraska standout who went on to a five-year career in the NFL in the 1960s, died on Dec. 18 in Columbia, Mo. He was 69.

He had an impact on your life I don t care if you were an athlete or not an athlete, said Ken Najarian, a former teammate of Thornton s at Libbey.

A three-sport star with the Cowboys, Thornton participated in football, basketball ,and track.

But it was on the football field where Thornton really made a name for himself as a fullback and linebacker. He even earned the nickname Thunder during his senior year, which later stuck at Nebraska when a coach on the freshman team made the comment that Thornton hit like thunder.

Easily he was always the best football player on the field, Najarian said. He was really an outstanding athlete, head and shoulders above anyone in the city of Toledo, even at a young age.

Yet the accolades and praise never went to Thornton s head.

When you spoke to him, he was very humble, Najarian said. He would smile, almost an embarrassed smile, like an aw, gee, kind of thing. It was genuine, and he was a genuine human being.

Recruited by dozens of college football teams during his senior season at Libbey, Thornton decided to head west to Lincoln, Neb., with Libbey teammate Tyrone Robertson after graduation in 1959.

The pair, along with another teammate, Elwood Rafert, were recruited by Ohio State coach Woody Hayes, but Robertson ultimately was denied admission to the school.

We all thought we could go to Ohio State, and one of us was turned down, Thornton said in an interview with huskerpedia.com in June, 2004.

Woody s ideas about football didn t exactly fit with our ideas of college football.

Thornton played two seasons under coach Bill Jennings before being named co-captain of the Cornhuskers his senior year in legendary Nebraska coach Bob Devaney s first season.

Also during his senior year, Nebraska began its current sellout streak of 297 games at Memorial Stadium.

Thornton ended his college career with a win over the University of Miami in the Gotham Bowl.

The Gotham Bowl was cold, and it was not very well attended, Thornton said in June, 2004. You could shoot a gun in the stands and wouldn t hit a soul. It was an empty stadium, and it was a terrible, terrible day. It was snow and sleet and everything else, and we went out and just wanted to play.

After college, Thornton was a fifth-round draft pick of the St. Louis Cardinals, spending his entire NFL career with the team.

Thornton said the experience of leaving Lincoln for the pros was similar to leaving Toledo for college.

Coming from Ohio to Nebraska, the atmosphere was different, he said in June, 2004. Toledo was a big urban area and Lincoln was more of a small town, and it was an adjustment. Then going from Lincoln to St. Louis, wow, that was quite another experience.

Despite a dazzling high school and college resume, Thornton struggled to make the same impact in the NFL and eventually had his career cut short because of injuries.

It was hard to see where you could fit in, so you just went out and did your best and let whatever happens happen, Thornton said of playing in the NFL.

Following his playing days, Thornton joined the coaching ranks, spending time at Scott High School, the University of Nebraska, and the University of Missouri.

He later worked for the state of Missouri while spending the rest of his life in Columbia, Mo.

Contact Zach Silka at:zsilka@theblade.comor 419-724-6110.

First Published February 4, 2009, 2:18 p.m.