Tommy Nettles, one of the best and most-versatile athletes to play in San Diego County, died Monday night following a long illness.
He was 79.
The 5-foot-11, 175-pound Nettles was a basketball standout at Hoover High School his senior season. He played at San Diego City College, then went to San Diego State to play football.
But he also played on the golf team and threw the javelin on the track team.
Later, he was a world-class Over-the-Line player.
“There wasn’t anything Tommy couldn’t do well,” said Rick Smith, a longtime friend and a historian of prep sports in San Diego.
“Really, he was a natural at everything he tried.”
Nettles led the Aztecs in receiving in 1968, catching 62 es for 1,227 yards and 14 TDs. He had 11 catches for a then-NCAA-record 363 yards and four TDs in a 68-7 win over Southern Mississippi. Southern Mississippi had lost to Alabama by three points the week before.
Nettles was named the Aztecs’ MVP after the season. He was drafted by the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs, but chose to play in Canada. In two seasons with the Edmonton Eskimos, Nettles caught 49 es for 642 yards and three TDs.
A scratch golfer, Nettles played on the PGA Tour and in the 1975 U.S. Open.
“Tommy was unbelievable,” said Jim Hight, an Aztecs teammate. “He did everything, and did everything well.”
Hight first met Nettles at San Diego City College and was “in awe” of the star athlete, he said.
“Not only was he a great athlete, he was a trivia expert along with Fred Dryer,” Hight said.
After his playing career, Nettles taught at San Diego City College while coaching football and soccer. He moved into broadcasting after his playing days, working Aztecs football games on radio with Ron Reina.
Nettles worked as a sports anchor at San Diego’s Channel 6, moved to San Francisco, working as a TV sports anchor at KRON, the NBC , then to Los Angeles, where he worked for KTTV.
Nettles was one of the original on-air personalities on The Golf Channel. Later, he was named executive director for the Hall of Champions in Balboa Park.
“Tommy was phenomenal,” said Ron Cota, a friend since the age of 12. “He had tremendous athletic ability. He hit a growth spurt his senior season at Hoover and everything took off from there.
“He was opinionated, but he worked at his craft. I don’t know if people really knew that about Tommy.
“He worked hard to succeed. He was a striver, someone who always had to prove himself.”
The Nettles family, which included Tommy, brother John and cousins Graig and Jimmy, along with the Boones and Powells, are considered by many to be the first families of athletics in San Diego.
John was an All-CIF football player at St. Augustine High School, played at Wichita State and later worked at the Union-Tribune. Graig and Jimmy played baseball at San Diego State and in the major leagues.
Graig was an All-Southern California selection in basketball at San Diego High, but is best known as an All-Star third baseman with the New York Yankees. He was a key member of the Padres’ 1984 World Series team, playing 22 years in the big leagues.
Jimmy, an outfielder, played baseball and basketball at Crawford High School; he played six years in the major leagues.
Twin brothers Bill, the father of John and Tommy, and Wayne, the father of Graig and Jimmy, were prep football stars in San Diego and played at San Diego State.
“Tommy and Graig could do anything and do it extremely well,” Jimmy Nettles said. “I saw Tommy play football, and he was great. Never saw him play golf, but obviously he was great. And he was a tremendous tennis player.
“Then, after not playing since grammar school, he decides to play football, and gets drafted by the NFL.”
Hight re dinners and hanging out with the Nettles boys and other San Diego State players.
“Tommy and a bunch of other players lived in a house we called ‘the Crib,’ ” Hight said. “On Wednesday nights, Bill Nettles would host dinners, something we called ‘Grease.’ All the guys were there, and it was the best atmosphere ever. We had great coaches back then … Don Coryell, John Madden, Joe Gibbs … but I really think those dinners brought us together as a close-knit group.
“All the Nettles (boys) … fathers, sons, cousins … were great. But Tommy was so intense, had a great work ethic. He was the unsung hero of the Nettles family.”
