Thomas Duggan Goss (August 20, 1915 – May 28, 1969) was an NBC and ABC radio and television commentator in Chicago and Los Angeles and a crusader against Chicago mob involvement in boxing and politics.
Early years
Duggan was born as Thomas Goss to Irish-American parents in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois. His father was a plumber. He grew up in Chicago and went to work as his father's assistant.
In 1943, during World War II, Duggan enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and served in the 3rd Marine Division in the South Pacific. Near the end of the war, he was assigned to Armed Forces Radio in China, developing an interest in broadcasting.
After his discharge, Duggan became a radio announcer for station KCLU in Santa Barbara, California, using the name Tom Goss.
NBC Chicago
In 1949 Duggan went to work for the NBC radio (WMAQ) and television (WNBQ) outlets in Chicago. He now called himself Tom Duggan, the name he would use for the rest of his career. Duggan's nightly 15 minute television sports commentary on WNBQ at 10:30 quickly gained popularity.
Duggan constantly spoke out against Chicago mob figures and corrupt politicians in the International Boxing Club (IBC), the governing body for professional boxing. He continually railed against James D. Norris and his partner Arthur Wirtz over the mob's influence in boxing. Duggan finally alleged on-air that Norris had threatened to kill him. Both Norris and NBC demanded an apology, and when Duggan refused he was fired.
The Chicago Tribune reported that "the station and newspaper offices were swamped with phone calls protesting Duggan's dismissal."
Letters published in the Tribune included the following:
"Tom Duggan – Unafraid. A voice crying in the wilderness! St. George and The Dragon! So Long Tom – we'll all crawl back into our safe little shells now we've had our brief moment in the sun."
"Whether you like Duggan or not, what this country needs is more young guys telling whoever and whatever they think needs a little airing."
"If Tom Duggan tomorrow would enter politics and run on the Democratic ticket for Mayor of Chicago, his popularity would push him in with a landslide."
Because of his enormous popularity, Chicago newspapers had big, bold front-page headlines announcing his firing. A petition was circulated throughout Chicago, calling for Duggan's reinstatement.
On May 11, 1953 Time magazine wrote "In Chicago, TV Sportscaster Tom Duggan has as many detractors among his 250,000 viewers as he has fans, but they all get some sort of kick out of his outspoken opinions. Last February, when Duggan was fired by NBC's station WNBQ for saying on the air that President Jim Norris of the International Boxing Club was "palling around with gangsters," the station was swamped with protests. An NBC apology persuaded Norris to withdraw his libel suit and Duggan was returned to the air. Last month Duggan was at it again. On his 10:30 p.m. show, he took a few sideswipes at the forthcoming championship Marciano-Walcott fight, which is promoted by Jim Norris and his I.B.C., and due to be televised by NBC. The next day, says Duggan, he was fired again. Thousands of Duggan fans again phoned, wired and wrote their protests, but this time NBC stiffly announced that it had "terminated the services of Mr. Thomas Duggan because of his failure to adhere to . . . standard operating policies. This policy requires all material for broadcast to be cleared in advance." Duggan was far from silenced. He still had a sports column in the Chicago American at $250 a week. And, five days later, he was back with a new sponsor and a new vote of confidence, hired to do two half-hour sports shows at $200 each over ABC's station WBKB-TV. Said Duggan, by now used to landing on his feet: "I'm not trying to be a crusader on sports. I'm more like an umpire, calling the plays as I see 'em."
ABC Chicago
With NBC refusing to rehire him, Duggan accepted a job with ABC as a nightly commentator on WBKB (now WLS-TV).
Duggan has been called:
"... loud, abrasive, and at times unpredictable. Perhaps best described as the Morton Downey, Jr. of his day, Duggan also had ties to the Chicago Mob, an association that made Quinlan nervous, especially when Duggan would "predict" a Mob hit on the air and two or three weeks later that hit would come to pass."