Tom Siler, veteran sports editor of the “Knoxville News-Sentinel” and national college football columnist for “Sporting News”, was a native of Jellico, Tennessee. Born on December 11, 1909, he attended several junior colleges before finishing at the University of Tennessee in 1931. After earning his degree, Siler worked on the “News-Sentinel” from 1931 to 1934. He then joined the Associated Press in Nashville before being promoted in 1938 to the “Chicago Sun.” Siler had an unusual military career in World War II. From the time he got his commission as a second lieutenant at Adjutant Generals School, Fort Washing, Maryland, until he was discharged later after detached duty in New York, Washington, London, Paris, and Berlin, he never was on an army post. In 1948 Siler returned from Chicago to the “News-Sentinel”, becoming sports editor in 1957. He covered the Olympics from the 1956 Rome games until the 1972 games held in Germany. A past president of the UT Alumni Association and the American Football Writers Association, Siler was also the author of three books. Tom Siler passed away in 1985 after a long and prestigious career as a sportswriter and editor.
