University of St. Thomas Athletics
Gene's Blog: Another Feely eyes a game day in Twin Cities
12/2/2020 7:28:00 PM | Athletics, Gene's Blog
The noon kickoff on CBS will include former NFL kicker Jay Feely as a color analyst. Feely is the grandson of St. Thomas Athletics Hall of Famer Tom Feely, a three-sport athlete and later 26-year head basketball coach. Tom Feely, Sr., died in January 2007 at age 87, after serving in a variety of campus roles here for parts of seven decades.
CBS Sports' promotional staff reached out Wednesday to our office requesting player or coaching photos of Tom Feely. If time allows during a game break on Sunday, CBS could include a brief tribute to Tom's career, explaining his connection to Jay.
Jay Feely grew up in Florida, and no doubt benefited from athletic genes and mentoring from his grandfather Tom, Sr., and dad, Tom, Jr.
Jay played on a national champion youth soccer team in his teens. He later was a successful Division I kicker at Michigan -- a teammate to Tom Brady and Desmond Howard -- but went undrafted. He kept his dream of a professional opportunity alive with two years kicking in the Arena league. Then in 2001 Feely won the starting job in training camp with the Atlanta Falcons. He went on to kick for six NFL teams during his 14-year NFL career. He has worked in football broadcasting since his playing days ended.
Tom Feely, Sr., was a star athlete in high school when he wasn't working at his father's town elevator and coal yard in Farmington, Minn. When asked why he went into coaching, the colorful Irishman once said, "I didn't want to work in that damn elevator; it was too dirty."
Feely said he was fortunate to play for two legendary Tommie head coaches in Nic Musty and Wee Walsh. He once explained, "Nic Musty and Wee Walsh recruited me. Walsh was the bad cop and would throw erasers and scream. Musty would be the good cop and smooth things over and put his arm around you. I guess when I coached I was the bad cop, but the big thing I learned is to praise the kids more if we lost a close game. Boy, did that pay off."
A starting quarterback and halfback in football and basketball standout, Feely also competed in tennis at St. Thomas. He played in the inaugural basketball game in O'Shaughnessy Hall in 1939 and graduated as the college's career scoring leader in that sport.
After serving four years as an Air Force captain in World War II, Feely returned to campus in 1946 as head basketball coach for St. Thomas Academy. He served in that role for eight seasons before taking over the college hoops team when Paul Sokol resigned as head coach. Feely's 26-year run ended following the 1979-80 season, when Steve Fritz, his former star player and nine-year assistant, replaced him. Feely had a memorable five-year basketball stretch from 1969 to 1974 when the Tommies swept all five MIAC championships and qualified for four NAIA tournaments in Kansas City. Those teams compiled a 125-28 record.
With St. Thomas Academy and St. Thomas, Feely coached more than 1,000 games in basketball and baseball. His school-best all-time basketball coaching win total (417) was passed by Fritz , who finished with 596 victories upon his 2011 retirement from coaching.
All six members of Tom Feely, Sr.'s family received Tommie degrees. In 1980, his wife Toni received her degree the same day as their youngest son, Dan, who went on to a career in medicine. Dick Feely '69 earned a Ph.D. and worked as an oceanographer; Pat Feely '67 played on two of his dad's champion basketball teams, and two champion baseball teams, and later earned two master's degrees on is path in school administration. Tom Feely, Jr., '74 was a three-sport St. Thomas athlete. He later earned a master's degree and has been involved in coaching football for parts of five decades. Since 2012, Tom, Jr., has run a kicking school in Florida assisted by sons Jay, John, Ryan, Tyler and Nick. Ryan Feely started his college career kicking for Central Florida and transferred to Division I-AA Jacksonville where he was a two-time All-America punter.In a 1990 interview for a campus publication, the wisdom of Tom Feely, Sr., was evident. "You should play to win, but within reason, without recruiting violations and without winning being the only thing," he stressed.
"Winning is a mental attitude. A good coach wins because he promotes self-confidence and reduces nervousness in his players. And they have to learn to lose, too. When players leave here, they're going to lose battles in business, in life; you can't win 'em all."
On the Mark
There's a second St. Thomas connection to Sunday's Vikings-Jaguars game. Former Tommie football player Mark Ellenz is in his eighth season working for Jacksonville, including the last five as the Jaguars' Director of College Scouting.
Ellenz attended the same high school -- La Crosse Aquinas -- as current Tommie athletics administrators Phil Esten, Cory Chapman and Megan Jacobson.
After starting his football career at UW-La Crosse, Ellenz transferred here and was a role player during his three seasons at St. Thomas. Ellenz started his NFL career with a 12-year run in scouting with the Indianapolis Colts before moving to the Jaguars' organization.
Ellenz's journey to an NFL career is one that his uncle, Bill McGrane, previously navigated over a 25-year career. The son of a prominent Des Moines sportswriter, McGrane worked in newspaper jobs before taking an NFL public-relations job with the Minnesota Vikings (1966-72). He later joined the Chicago Bears front office and worked numerous roles over 19 years (1975-89, and 1998-2003). McGrane also wrote biographies of Bud Grant and Alan Page.
Future With Pros
Ellenz' senior season in 1997 was Mal Scanlan's final year as head coach. Scanlan retired after the Toms rallied to edge St. John's 31-27 in the Metrodome in the season-ending clash. That St. Thomas team closed 8-2, including a 28-12 win over league-champion Augsburg. Scanlon finished with a five-year Tommie record of 34-16 (32-13 MIAC).
Ellenz was one of four 1997 football Tommies who would go on and achieve a connection to pro sports, joining:
- Ryan Collins closed out a two-year All-America career that season as a tight end. He went on to play with the Baltimore Ravens, one of seven different pro organizations he was affiliated with before an injury ended his career in 2003. Collins might be the only individual to play in Division III, NFL Europe, the XFL and the NFL.
- A standout goalkeeper in soccer, Joe Warren came out as a fifth-year senior and handled the punting chores in 1997. He booted a school-record 78-yard punt in the home opener against Concordia-St. Paul. Warren went on to play professional soccer for 10 seasons.
- Linebacker Dave Campbell had a brief playing career here but shifted his time and talent into journalism with the campus Aquin newspaper. Campbell has covered major-college and professional sports in a variety of roles over the last two decades as the Minneapolis sports bureau leader with the Associated Press.
Bears said No to Joe
Bill McGrane was connected to a funny anecdote on the hit-and-miss nature of NFL drafts. That story was included in Dan Pompei's 2015 story in Bleacher Report that reminds you that draft-day decisions can come back to haunt any organization.
McGrane was in the Bears' draft room in 1979 when they were mulling their round-three selection. After taking future NFL defensive stars Dan Hampton and Al Harris in round one, the Bears selected a receiver in round two. McGrane and some colleagues thought Chicago would take Notre Dame QB Joe Montana, a national-champion QB with the Irish with solid but not prototypical skill sets. Some felt Montana could be a surprise talent in the NFL, though, and Bears scouts liked what they heard from their sources in South Bend.
McGrane recalls that Bears general manager Jim Finks surprised everyone and went with a gut feeling. Instead of Montana, he overruled the consensus and chose a running back to add depth behind star Walter Payton.
Pompei wrote, "The Bears had Bob Avellini as their starter, and he was being pushed by Mike Phipps. Vince Evans had been showing great ability in practices. Why, (Jim) Finks asked, should we muddy the waters with another quarterback?"
The back selected, Willie McClendon, had a modest four-year NFL career. Montana? He won four Super Bowls (three as MVP) with the San Francisco 49ers en route to the Hall of Fame. Throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, the Bears had a rock-solid defense but had inconsistent play at QB, and managed just one Super Bowl appearance (won 1985 championship).
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Gene's Blog is a sports column penned by UST sports information director Gene McGivern. Gene is in his 27th season at St. Thomas and 33rd overall in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. He blogs periodically on various topics regarding the Tommies, the MIAC and Division I and III sports.
If you have comments or questions, e-mail Gene at ejmcgivern@stthomas.edu
