The Farmer who followed Kinnick

Before most Cedar Rapids area players were taken in the NFL Draft, there was Tom Farmer.

After Nile Kinnick, there was Tom Farmer.

Farmer played with and against gridiron greats and socialized with Hollywood stars. But later, he was known as a Cedar Rapids entrepreneur, providing ice cream treats and jobs to locals.

Tom Farmer arguably remains one of the great athletes Cedar Rapids has ever produced, even if few remember him today. He toiled on the fields and courts at Wilson High School, achieving all-state status in three sports, starred in two sports at the University of Iowa and was the first Metro player to be selected in an NFL Draft and play in the league.

Thomas Manduis Farmer was born April 17, 1921. He grew up with his parents, Richard and Olive, near the corner of Third Street and 12th Avenue SW, about a 10-block jaunt to Wilson High School. According to city directories, his father worked at Cherry Burrell and C.R. City Lines Inc. (bus service).

Farmer was an athlete for all seasons at Wilson, achieving all-state status in football, basketball and baseball. In his senior season (1938-39), he ran for 10 touchdowns and passed for six more in football. Wilson won the City Championship in 1938 with a 21-12 win over Franklin before an estimated 4,000 people at Hill Park. Farmer ran for a touchdown and passed for two.

In basketball, he led the conference in scoring and occasionally posted 20-point games when many teams were scoring in the 20s. As examples, witness these two games during his senior season: Farmer poured in 22 points in a 43-27 win over Manchester, then 10 days later Wilson survived a scare from Independence, 20-18, on two late Farmer free throws.

He starred for the Rambler baseball team and also on the Roosevelt Hotel American Legion squad.

When Farmer matriculated to the University of Iowa in 1939, he was ineligible for the varsity as a freshman. Playing time likely would have been sparse as the Hawkeyes featured Nile Kinnick in the backfield. Kinnick led The Ironmen to a 6-1-1 record and won college football’s Heisman Trophy.

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With Kinnick having graduated, Iowa was looking for his replacement in 1940. College football teams in those days employed several backs, with far less passing than today, and as many as a half-dozen players — including the 5-foot-11, 190-pound Farmer — were considered for Kinnick’s spot. It is fair to say no individual “replaced’’ Kinnick, but Farmer quickly became a key force at Kinnick’s spot.

In the 1940 opening game shutout of South Dakota, Bill Yeoul — later Farmer’s NFL teammate — actually was listed as the starter at Kinnick’s position but it was Farmer who garnered a piece of The Gazette headlines. Farmer threw a 23-yard touchdown pass and drop-kicked three extra points in his debut.

Farmer garnered headlines galore during his three-year Hawkeye varsity career. In 1941, in a 21-0 win over Illinois, he passed for two touchdowns, ran for another and kicked three extra points. In a 1942 upset over No. 2 Wisconsin, Farmer passed for the only score and had two interceptions.

Farmer was voted Iowa’s most valuable player in 1942 and finished second in Big Ten MVP voting behind College Football Hall of Famer Dave Schreiner of Wisconsin.

Upon completion of Farmer’s football exploits at Iowa, Gazette columnist Tait Cummins wrote: “Great defensively, brilliant offensively, never shirking for a second, Farmer rates with the greatest backs in Iowa history. And while his competition is over, his achievements aren’t forgotten.’’

Farmer also lettered three seasons on the Iowa baseball team, starring as a second baseman and the No. 3 batter. During and after college, he was a mainstay in the Manufacturers & Jobbers (M&J) League, regularly hitting well over .300. He later declined a contract with the St. Louis Cardinals.

In the 1943 NFL Draft, which included 10 teams and 32 rounds, Farmer was a second round (15th overall) pick of the Cleveland Rams. His pro career was delayed, however. He served three years in the Marines and saw duty in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

By 1946, the Rams franchise moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles. In his second NFL game, Farmer scored the Rams’ first touchdown on a 12-yard run in a victory at Green Bay. His teammates included Hall of Famers Bob Waterfield and Tom Harmon.

Farmer played his final two pro seasons with the Washington Redskins, led by Hall of Famer Sammy Baugh. In 1947, Farmer led the Redskins with six interceptions. Farmer concluded his career with five touchdowns in 27 games.

After serving as assistant football coach at Iowa in 1948, Farmer moved to California and managed bowling alleys in San Bruno. Not surprisingly, he was an accomplished bowler, averaging in the 190s and posting a career high series of 735.

In 1961, he returned home when he was named manager of Tropic Lanes, a 14-lane bowling center then located in downtown Cedar Rapids. Tropic Lanes, and Danceland above it at A Avenue and Third Street NE, was demolished in 1973 to make way for the Five Seasons Center.

Farmer managed Tropic for four years. He and his wife June then purchased Dairy Queen #9 on the corner of Wilson Avenue and Bowling Street SW and owned it for 11 years.

Kathy O’Neil, who lived across Bowling Street when her family owned Stejskal Florists, got her first job when Farmer hired her at Dairy Queen in 1970 at age 14. She continued to work there until 1976.

“Tom and his wife (June) were, and still are to this day, the best people I ever worked for. They were firm but very fair,’’ O’Neil said.

June occasionally shared stories with O’Neil about the Farmers’ time in Los Angeles.

“Since he was an NFL player they attended quite a few parties with movie stars in attendance,’’ O’Neil said. “The best story was when they were at a pool party in LA ... Jayne Mansfield was there and kept flirting with Tom!

“June was a tiny little lady, but fierce. June said she noticed that Mansfield kept walking by Tom, then started talking and then got a little closer. June decided enough was enough and she just butted right in between them and sort of pushed Mansfield away, made it clear to stay away from her man.’’

The Farmers’ old Dairy Queen closed in June 2022 after it sustained heavy fire damage. It now is a Mexican restaurant.

Tom Farmer died in 1980. He is buried at Czech National Cemetery, across the street from his old Dairy Queen and only a few blocks from where he rose to athletic excellence.