[Old School Hound]

I played pickup basketball against him, and "21"...bounced off him like a knat on a few plays.

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Which Corbin player that was recruited and signed with UK that killed his whole family and laid them out in the yard? A Corbin player that played with him told me he was maybe the toughest SOB he ever saw, but most have had some major brain trauma.

He was a Thomas. I'm a Thomas. You better watch what you say. lol

I've come a long way and learned to like you pjdoug. You're a true football man. Plus I KNOW all about how bad A the Thomas's are. My wife is one, and the toughest guy in our county, or family were the Thomas family. And it seems that isn't a coincidence across the state.

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I played pickup basketball against him, and "21"...bounced off him like a knat on a few plays.

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Which Corbin player that was recruited and signed with UK that killed his whole family and laid them out in the yard? A Corbin player that played with him told me he was maybe the toughest SOB he ever saw, but most have had some major brain trauma.

It was RC.  I had Art class with him. He would come to class drunk and some of us were afraid he would walk into class oneday and make a morbid and groteque art exhibit out of one of us.  He received a full scholarship to play at UK. Got kicked off the team first day of practice for fighting with, I believe it was, UK running back Rod Stewart.  Butchered his mother and cousin a few years later.  They were on display outside of the house, I believe, when police arrived.  Some say he must have had anger issues. I think I agree wih that assessment.  He was on every All-State team in '76.  Best linemen I ever saw play. I would have quit foootball before I would have ever agreed to block that SOB.  Every time I here the song "Exciteable Boy" by Waren Zevon I think of RC , for some reason. 

 "He took little Suzie to the Junior Prom
Excitable boy, they all said
And he raped her and killed her, then he took her home
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy
After ten long years they let him out of the home
Excitable boy, they all said
And he dug up her grave and built a cage with her bones
Excitable boy, they all said
Well, he's just an excitable boy."

That described my classmate, RC.  Odd sort of guy . Great football player, though.  The best I ever saw at his position.

That is crazy, so Old School Hound, I assume you were likely friends and teammates with the Franchinoni brothers?

The Franconi's were both good football players.  Another RC story.  I was going to my locker to put up my books one day when I heard someone yelling about a fight that had broken out in the school. Being the curious chap that I am I had to go check it out. Kinda wish I hadn't. It was particularly vicious and bloody. You guessed it... RC  and John Francioni, a big, big tough guy in his own right. RC beat him to a bloody pulp.  RC  was a monster --- a psychopath . I always went out of my way to be nice to him and he never directed even the slightest bit of meanness or aggression in my direction. Unfortunately, there were others who paid the ultimate price for his psycopathy.

In fact,  in 1976 , after Corbin had beaten district rival Middlesboro in a hotly contested game at Middlesboro , RC likely prevented me from being a stabbing victim. I was walking after the game with a smart-mouthed friend of mine who was taunting some Jacket fans . One of the guys pulled a knife on us and acted as though he was seriously intent on slicing us. RC came by at just the right time and , let's just  say , he sent him away in another direction. How's that for irony? Saved by RC Thomas from being stabbed. Life is weird...

WOW!!! Richie Francioni told me the story of his brother and RC fighting. The way he told it no one (adults or kids) would even try to break it up. Richie said his brother was a wrestler. Richie was offensive lineman of the year his senior year. I worked with him when he was the SRO at our school, as well as when he retired as a police officer and was just earning extra money as our school's guard. But Richie said that RC was maybe the best player he ever saw, definitely played with. He also said his Corbin team only gave up like 40 points one of those years, the entire season, and they played the 4A champion that year as well. Defense was one of the best I've ever heard of in Kentucky. I know Richie started for Eastern at Nose as a freshman but he was offered by Louisville, but Louisville wasn't considered as good as Eastern back in those days.

Yep, that '76 team with RC Thomas, John Francioni, and those others guys were one of the best and certainly the most intimidating defense I ever saw. When your defense is anchored by a psychopath, you're gonna scare a lot of teams. In the championship game, Corbin shut out a Mayfield team that was averaging 40+ ppg.  The Corbin defensive line was HUGE and nasty.    I wouldn't have tried to break up that Thomas-Francioni fight for a million dollars because I would have died in the attempt and would have never been able to spend the money. Those two guys were as tough and mean as could be and one took his meanness to another level when he became a double murderer.