Thomas Michael Shannon might have been the best high school athlete ever produced in the St. Louis area. While at CBC, Shannon was the Missouri high school player of the year in both football and basketball, believed to be the only time that has happened in state history.
Shannon, who died late Saturday night, went on to the University of Missouri where he was a star on the freshman football team — freshmen couldn’t play on the varsity then. His coach then, Frank Broyles, later said that if Shannon had stayed in school he might have won the Heisman Trophy, given to college football’s top player.