WVU Sports Hall of Fame
Tom Keane was a rare lettermen in football at West Virginia and Ohio State during the 1940s.
After an all-star high school career at Linsly Academy in Wheeling, West Virginia, the Bellaire, Ohio, native enrolled at Ohio State where the two-way back lettered as a freshman in 1944 on Ohio State's undefeated, co-national championship team before serving 20 months in the United States Navy. Upon discharge, he enrolled at WVU and was a key contributor on the 1946 and 1947 teams.
Keane (pronounced Kane) was a second-round pick and 18th overall by the National Football League's Los Angeles Rams in 1948. He played nine NFL seasons (87 games) as a defensive back-offensive end including the first four seasons with the Rams. In 1952, he played with the Dallas Texans before two seasons with the Baltimore Colts and ended his playing career in 1955 with the Chicago Cardinals.
He was a two-time All-Pro and played in the 1953 Pro Bowl, ranked second in the NFL in pass interceptions twice, and played in three NFL championship games including the 1951 Rams' title team. From 1948-52, he and brother Jim Keane -- the NFL's leading pass receiver in 1947 while a Chicago Bear, played in the NFL.
Keane coached with the Chicago Cardinals from 1957-59 before returning to his native Ohio Valley where he became the first head coach of the Wheeling Ironmen professional football team for three seasons (1962-64). His 1962 and 1963 teams won United Football League championships, posting records of 9-4, 12-1 and 7-7.
Keane was a longtime assistant coach in the NFL, coaching in five Super Bowls with the Miami Dolphins. He returned to the NFL as an aide for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1965 before joining the original staff of the Dolphins in 1966 where he remained until retiring in 1985 to cap a 38-year pro career as a player or coach.
In five trips to the Super Bowl with Miami, Keane saw the Dolphins twice crowned world champions (1972 and 1973). The 1972 Miami team established an all-time NFL record with a 17-0 record and one of Keane's defensive backs, Jake Scott, was named MVP in the Super Bowl. The next year, the Dolphins allowed only five touchdown passes, with Keane's secondary rating much of the credit.
Keane is a member of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference and Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan Halls of Fame and was selected the 1982 Upper Ohio Valley Dapper Dan Co-Man of the Year with Philadelphia Eagles assistant coach Fred Bruney.
Keane, and his wife, Mary, had two daughters, Candi and Mary, and two sons, Tom and Tim.
He died at age 74 in 2001.
