Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas
If you'll indulge me going off my subject matter a bit, I'm from this area and the news hits close to home.
Ed Thomas, the NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2005, was shot and killed this morning in the weight room of Aplington-Parkersburg High School where he was the long-time head football coach.
He recorded a career record of 292-84 as a coach and has four former players currently active in the NFL (Green Bay's Aaron Kampman, Jacksonville's Brad Meester, Detroit's Jared DeVries and Denver's Casey Wiegmann). Per capita, Aplington-Parkersburg has more active NFL players than any other city in the country.
He also was instrumental in the rebuilding of a community after a devastating E5 tornado ripped through Parkersburg and my hometown New Hartford last May, killing 8 people and leaving thousands homeless.
The man taken into custody is Mark Becker, 24, of Parkersburg, a former football player on Thomas' team. Butler County officials said Becker has been taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. He was involved in a high-speed police chase on June 20. There is no word as to any motive behind this senseless crime.
The entire state of Iowa mourns the loss of Coach Ed Thomas and our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and the entire community of Aplington-Parkersburg.
Story at the KCCI Des Moines
Comments
I heard about this a couple of hours ago; terrible, terrible news. My thoughts and prayers go out to Coach Thomas' family and friends.
He's damaged goods. Get rid of this dirtbag!
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