Penn defensive end found dead at off-campus home
Owen Thomas, a junior at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who recently was voted a captain of the Quakers football team, was found dead yesterday.
Owen Thomas, a junior at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania who recently was voted a captain of the Quakers football team, was found dead yesterday.
Penn spokeswoman Lori Doyle said the university received word of the defensive end's death about 2 p.m., when his body was found inside an off-campus property where he lived in West Philadelphia.
Doyle said "it will be a while" before a medical examiner determines the cause of death. It didn't appear that any foul play was involved in Thomas' death, she added.
"Right now, the program's been rocked," coach Al Bagnoli said. "Absolutely rocked."
Thomas was a 6-2, 240-pound defensive end, who was voted as one of four captains on April 19 by his teammates.
Tuesday was the last day of spring semester classes at Penn, and last night was the senior athletic banquet. Sports information director Mike Mahoney figured few seniors would attend because of Thomas' death.
"There's never a good time for anything like this," Bagnoli said. "But when you think that tonight's the senior banquet, for all the athletes, and it's a really nice event, and everyone's just trying to get ready for exams and the summer, and now, everyone's mind is going to be somewhere else."
Bagnoli acknowledged that the team had struggled through previous tragedies, including the October 2005 suicide of senior running back Kyle Ambrogi.
"There's nothing that can prepare you for something like this, even when you've had to deal with tragedy before," the coach said.
He said the athletic community was saddened earlier this month by the death of Dan Staffieri, the "Spirit Coach" known as "Coach Lake," who died of cancer at age 85 after spending 33 years at Penn.
"I'm being honest with you. 'Coach Lake,' that was tough enough," Bagnoli said. "It's just been 2 very, very sad days for Penn, in a very close period of time. When you first hear the news, it's disbelief."
Thomas starred at Parkland High in South Whitehall, as a 3-year letter winner and team captain for 2 years.
He started in all 10 games last season for the Quakers and made second-team All-Ivy League as Penn went 8-2 and won the league title.
The Quakers' defense finished first in Football Championship Subdivision in total defense and scoring defense. Thomas led the team with six sacks, second in the Ivies. He had 29 tackles, eight for losses. His older brother, Matt, played football for the Quakers, graduating in 2002. Another brother, Morgan, played football for East Stroudsburg University.
Bagnoli said his players were stunned by the news.
"When I addressed the kids, I got a lot of blank stares," he said. "Everyone's living a bad dream, a nightmare. For a lot of people, I'm sure it hasn't really sunk in yet. But it's real.
"In the short term, everyone has to grieve their own way. There's a mourning period, a proper time frame to pay your respects. That's a big concern.
"Eventually, I told the kids, that the best way to honor him is on the field, by playing the best Penn defense, and the best Penn football, that we possibly can [next season]." *
