Radio personality found dead

“Nobody loved Auburn more.”

That’s how John “Stump” Thrower was described Monday afternoon by friends and colleagues. Thrower, an attorney, local radio personality and newspaper columnist, was found dead Monday morning in his Auburn home. He was 56.

“I talk to people all of the time who are passionate about Auburn, but I’ve never seen anyone as passionate as John,” said Inside the Auburn Tigers editor and publisher Mark Murphy.

Thrower’s passion for everything Auburn carried over in recent years into the local airwaves and print. He appeared on the afternoon radio show Sports Call (93.9 FM) with Bill Cameron and has been a weekly columnist for The Auburn Villager.

He was a 1971 Opelika High graduate, where he was on the football and track teams. He later walked on to the AU track team.

“He loved Auburn as much or more than anyone I ever knew, not just the athletics at the university, but the entire Auburn community,” Cameron said.

Lee County Coroner Bill Harris, who once worked with Thrower as waterboys for the Opelika High football team, said Thrower “died in his sleep on the couch.”

Thrower’s love for Auburn, and networking abilities as an attorney, thrust him into the heart of Alabama’s Gene Jelks controversy in the 1990s.

“He got some copies of some checks involving Gene Jelks from a third party,” Murphy said.

It was reported in 1992 that Jelks, a former Crimson Tide running back, was given a $2,100 signing bonus to play in Tuscaloosa. Alabama was placed on three years of NCAA probation.

Jeffcoat-Trant Funeral Home in Opelika is handling the arrangements, which are pending.