TEXAS LONGHORN LEGEND Tommy Nobis has his No. 60 retired during a ceremony Sept. 13, 2008 at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Nobis ied Wednesday in Atlanta at age 74.

Tommy Nobis, a consensus All-American who led the University of Texas to its first national football championship in 1963 and was the first player drafted by the expansion Atlanta Falcons, died Wednesday in Atlanta. He was 74.

The Falcons said Nobis died at his suburban Atlanta home after an extended illness with his wife, Lynn, at his side.

A native of San Antonio and graduate of San Antonio Jefferson High School, Nobis starred on both sides of the line (offensive guard and linebacker) at Texas and, despite being slowed by a knee injury during his senior season, won the Maxwell Award as the best all-around player in college football and the Outland Trophy as the top lineman. He finished seventh in the Heisman Trophy balloting — the top finisher among those who played defense — and appeared on the cover of Life and Sports Illustrated.

“The best defender in college football,” SI declared.

He played for the Longhorns from 1963-65 and was inducted into the Longhorn Men’s Hall of Honor in 1976. His No. 60 is retired by both The University of Texas and the Atlanta Falcons, as he joins Tyler’s Earl Campbell, Bobby Layne, Ricky Williams, Vince Young and Colt McCoy as the only Longhorns to have their jerseys retired at UT. He was Texas’ first-ever No. 1 overall draft pick.

Nobis was the only sophomore starter on the 1963 national title team. He was a two-

time All-American (1964-65) and a three-time All-Southwest Conference honoree (1963-65).

“Tommy Nobis was an icon not just at The University of Texas, but in all of college football,” former teammate at Texas Mike Perrin said. “More than that to me, though, he was a friend. He was a real treasure who personified greatness as a player and a human being. The Longhorn family celebrates his life well lived, even as we grieve his passing.”

Added former Longhorn coach Mack Brown, “We lost a great Longhorn in Tommy Nobis. When you’re one of the six numbers retired in the long, proud history of Texas Football, your legacy is something special. (Former Texas) Coach (Darrell) Royal told me many times that Tommy was one of the best players he had ever coached or seen. He was as physically dominant of a linebacker as the game will ever have. I was so lucky to get to know him and he was truly as special of a person as he was a player. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. He will be missed.”

Former Falcons coach Dan Reeves, who entered the league a year ahead of Nobis and became good friends, called him “the best middle linebacker I ever played against in my time” — an era that included Hall of Famers such as Dick Butkus and Ray Nitschke.

“Tommy could play the run and the pass,” Reeves said. “Butkus was really good against the run, but Tommy could do both really good. He never came out of the game. Nitschke was good, but he was with a great team.”

Nobis is a member of the National Football Foundation’s College Football Hall of Fame. He is also in the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame and the Atlanta Sports Hall of Fame.

He was drafted first overall by the Falcons and also picked by his home-state Houston Oilers of the American Football League, leading to a spirited bidding war that drew interest as far away as outer space. While orbiting the Earth in his Gemini spacecraft, astronaut Frank Borman — whose two sons were ball boys for the Oilers — urged Nobis to sign with Houston.

“I hope he comes here,” Borman said as his spaceship flew over Houston during its 59th orbit.

Nobis wound up signing with Atlanta, becoming the first player in franchise history and a beloved figure who would forever be known as “Mr. Falcon.” He earned NFL rookie of the year honors and the first of five Pro Bowl berths in 1966, and would go on to spend his entire 11-year career with the Falcons. His No. 60 has never been worn by any other Atlanta player, and he was among the initial inductees into the team’s “Ring of Honor” in 2004.

As a rookie, Nobis was credited unofficially with a staggering 296 solo and assisted tackles — an average of more than 21 per game. It remains the franchise record, and he would lead the team in tackles a total of nine times. The only exceptions were the 1969 and ’71 seasons when injuries limited him to a total of nine games.

Nobis also had 12 interceptions in his career, returning two of them for touchdowns.

After his playing days were over, Nobis had a long career in the Falcons front office and also became well known in the Atlanta area for running a charitable organization that provided job training to people with disabilities.

“Tommy’s legacy began as the first Falcons player in team history, was built over 40 years with the organization and will live on for years to come,” team owner Arthur Blank said in a statement. “Mr. Falcon is rightfully beloved by generations of Falcons fans and we will always be grateful for his many contributions to our team and community.”

Nobis’ individual brilliance was often overlooked, however, as the face of a franchise that had only two winning seasons in his long career, posting an overall record of 50-100-4. He retired after a dismal 1976 campaign that infamously ended with Pat Peppler — a front-office type with limited coaching experience — taking the sideline as interim head coach for the last nine games after Marion Campbell was fired.

Nobis had been in poor health with physical and cognitive ailments that may have been related to his football career. He was among hundreds of ex-players who were part of a plan that reimburses them for expenses related to the treatment of dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS or other neurological disorders. He also was among the plaintiffs who settled a massive concussion lawsuit against with the league.

“It’s sad what football has done to these players,” his wife said in the interview with the Houston Chronicle. “But I know he loved it more than anything. He wouldn’t have had it any other way.”

Tommy is survived by his wife and three children, Tommy, Kevin and Devon, as well as eight grandchildren.

The Associated Press and Texas Sports Information contributed to this report.