John David Thomas (born July 5, 1983) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He was selected by the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. The Patriots compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The Pa ...

in the third round of the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

, and also played for the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and ...

Early life

Thomas attended

Frenship High School Frenship High School is a public high school located in Wolfforth, Texas, United States. It is classified as a 6A school by the UIL. The school serves students in grades 10–12 from Wolfforth, parts of western Lubbock, and southwest Lubbock ...

Wolfforth, Texas Wolfforth ( ) is a town located in Lubbock County, Texas, United States. It is a southwestern suburb of Lubbock. The population was 5,521 at the 2020 census. History Wolfforth was established in 1916 and developed as a railroad town when the Pan ...

, and helped Frenship reach the state semi-finals in its division in 2000. Thomas excelled at

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and tight end for the Tigers, leading to speculation about what his role would be as a college player. After a heated recruiting battle with

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

, the University of Texas secured a commitment from Thomas to play tight end for the Longhorns.

College career

At Texas, Thomas broke school records for receptions, touchdowns, and yards by a tight end, as well as for receptions in a single game. He was also a candidate for the

John Mackey Award The John Mackey Award is presented annually to college football's most outstanding tight end. Established in 2000 by the Nassau County Sports Commission, the award is given annually to the tight end who best exemplifies the play, sportsmanship, ac ...

, given to the nation's best tight end, and for the

Draddy Trophy The William V. Campbell Trophy, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is awarded by the National Football Foundation to the top college football player with the best combination of academics, leadership, and on-field performance. It is ofte ...

, for academic merit by a student athlete. In both 2004 and 2005 Thomas was named to the Academic All-

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

First-team for accomplishments in the classroom. Long a favorite target of

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Vince Young Vincent Paul Young Jr. (born May 18, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Young was selected by the Tennessee Titans as the third overall pick in th ...

, Thomas played a prominent role in the Longhorns' 41–38 National Championship upset of then No. 1

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

in the

2006 Rose Bowl The 2006 Rose Bowl Game, played on January 4, 2006, at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, was an American college football bowl game that served as the BCS National Championship Game for the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. It featu ...

, hauling in a game-high 10 receptions for 88 yards. He majored in

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

Professional career

New England Patriots

Thomas was selected by the

in the third round of the

. In the first 14 games of his rookie

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

season, Thomas had only six receptions for a total of 76 yards, though three of those catches were for first downs (including his first two NFL completions which went for 29 and 11 yards, respectively). His breakout game came against the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

in Week 16 when, filling in for an injured

Benjamin Watson Benjamin Seth Watson (born December 18, 1980) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Duke Blue Devils football, Duke B ...

, Thomas caught five passes for a total of 83 yards, including his first NFL touchdown on a 22-yard pass from

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 23 seasons. He spent his first 20 seasons with the New Engla ...

. Thomas suffered a foot injury during the Patriots' 2007 offseason conditioning program and was placed on the team's Active/ Physically Unable to Perform list for training camp and the preseason. After catching only one pass in one game played for the 2007 season, Thomas was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

by the Patriots on October 3, 2007, in what was suspected to be a re-aggravation of the foot injury he suffered before the start of the season. The Patriots went undefeated during the season while Thomas was absent until losing to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

Super Bowl XLII Super Bowl XLII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, Thomas started 10 games as part of a two-tight end formation that also included Watson, who started 9 games. Thomas had nine catches during the season for 93 yards, but none after November 2. He was also a healthy inactive in a December 7 game against the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

New Orleans Saints

Thomas was traded to the

on September 5, 2009, in exchange for a sixth-round draft choice in the

2011 NFL draft The 2011 NFL draft was the 76th installment of the annual National Football League draft, NFL draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Rad ...

. He had 35 receptions during the 2009 season, a career-high. The Saints would go on to win

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

after defeating the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

31–17. In the Super Bowl, Thomas had 1 catch for 9 yards. On February 19, 2013, it was announced that the Saints had terminated Thomas' contract.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio

New England Patriots bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, David 1983 births Living people People from Plainview, Texas Players of American football from Hale County, Texas American football tight ends Texas Longhorns football players New England Patriots players New Orleans Saints players