Madisonville Mourns the Loss of ‘Old Number 50’

old-50

A Madisonville-North Hopkins sports “legend” who played football for the University of Kentucky, and then had a short stint in the Canadian Football League has died. Tom Rodgers, known in the Hopkins County area as “Old Number 50”, passed away Thursday morning in Madisonville.

Rodgers grew up in Madisonville, and while he was in high school, earned 16 sports letters. He lettered four years in football, basketball, and track. He also earned three letters in golf and one in baseball. Most in the area remember him for his abilities on the football field. He was the star player on the 1956 Maroon football team that finished the season unbeaten.

After graduating from Madisonville, Rodgers went on to the University of Kentucky, where he played for Coach Blanton Collier. Following college, Rodgers had a brief two year career in the Canadian Football League.

In later years, Rodgers became a part of the Madisonville football broadcast crew on WTTL, and would eventually be a part of a weekly sports show called “Sports Nutz”, which gave him the platform to exhibit his extensive high school sports knowledge, and to tell some incredible stories about his playing days.

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