Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Nobis played football at Thomas Jefferson High School, where he was an all-state offensive end and middle linebacker for the Mustangs.

On fourth-and-inches, and clinging to a 21–17 lead, Nobis led his teammates to a game-saving halt of top-ranked Alabama’s QB Joe Namath.

Aside from being an All-American linebacker, he also played guard on the offensive side of the ball and was often the primary blocker on touchdown runs.

This presented a dilemma and also sparked a debate that reached as far as outer space when astronaut Frank Borman (a big Oilers fan), aboard Gemini 7, talked back to earth with the message, "tell Nobis to sign with Houston."

That season, he won the league's NFL Rookie of the Year, was voted to the Pro Bowl and amassed 294 combined tackles which still stands today as the team's all-time single-season record,[2] and is unofficially the most tackles ever credited to one player, in a season, in NFL history.

In eleven professional seasons he led the Falcons in tackles nine times, went to five Pro Bowls (one in 1972 after two knee surgeries), was named All-Pro twice and was chosen for the NFL's "All-Decade Team" for the 1960s.

[7] Nobis enjoyed a successful NFL career that many believe is worthy of Pro Football Hall of Fame induction.

Those teams consisted of Hall of Fame members like Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach and Tom Landry.

In 2004, another Longhorn All-American linebacker, Derrick Johnson, decided to wear the jersey in his final collegiate home game to honor Nobis.

He won the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. award for his work with the Georgia Special Olympics and has been named the NFL Man of the Year.

[11] On January 28, 2019, researchers from Boston University confirmed that Nobis had the most severe form of chronic traumatic encephalopathy.