Thurle Thornton

West Seattle Athletic Club Yellowjackets

Half Back / Coach

1922-23; 1930 - 1938

"West Seattle's Greatest Athlete".  That was the newspaper headline in December of 1950 honoring Thurle Thornton as West Seattle High's greatest athlete of the half-century.

When you start your club career while still in high school like Thornton, athletics must come easy.  Thurle did just that as part of the 1922 and 1923 champion Yellowjackets playing halfback and defensive back.

Prior to his major semi-pro run with the West Seattle Yellowjackets, Thornton was also displaying his talents from 1922 to 1925 as an All-City football player for three years and captain of West Seattle High for two, being named the 1925 MVP athlete.  He won 3 letters in basketball and was All-City in that sport as well, finishing up as a two-year standout on the baseball team.  Moving on to the University of Washington, he immediately set up shop as captain of the freshman team in 1926, then spent the next three seasons leading the Huskies backfield in the Pac 8.  Between high school and college, he had already played 71 football games.  His athletic abilities were on display much earlier as he took gold in the over 10-year old 50-yard sprint during the Butte Fourth of July celebrations of 1919.

Re-joining the West Seattle Yellowjackets, Thornton parlayed his college skills on the field and imparted his knowledge to other players as an assistant coach through a career that would span the 1930-1934 seasons. His play in the backfield spurred on the Yellowjackets to Northwest League and Washington Independent Championships as he rambled through defenses on a regular basis.

Somewhere between 1933 and 1934 Thornton entered the professional wrestling ring and had a Northwest undefeated streak that was finally halted in late 1934.

As his on-field activities were winding down, Thurle continued with the Athletic club and in 1938 was tabbed Chairman of the Membership Drive Committee.

Thornton went on to become a deputy sheriff in 1947 reviewing inmate mail, as a debilitating spine disease was slowly taking away the use of his legs. 

West Seattle High School awarded the "Thurle Thornton Trophy" to the school's best all-around athlete beginning in 1948, and his son Jerry earned the prestigious award in 1951.  Jerry went on to play 2 seasons with the Seattle Ramblers in 1952-1953 carrying on the family tradition.