Edward Tervino Thomas (born September 27, 1974) 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 ...

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 ...

who played three seasons 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) with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

and

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 ...

. 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 ...

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (informally known as Southern or Georgia Southern) is a public university, public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The largest campus is in Statesboro, Georgia, Statesboro, with ...

. He was also a member of the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

and

Rhein Fire Rhein Fire may refer to either of two American football franchises: * Rhein Fire (NFL Europe) The Rhein Fire were a professional football team in the NFL Europe, formerly the World League of American Football. Established in Düsseldorf, Germany ...

Early life

Edward Tervino Thomas was born on September 27, 1974, in

Thomasville, Georgia Thomasville is the county seat of Thomas County, Georgia, United States. The population was 18,881 in 2020. The city deems itself the "City of Roses" and holds an annual Rose Festival. The city features plantations open to the public, a histor ...

. He attended Charles Lincoln Harper High School in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

College career

Thomas was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

for the

Georgia Southern Eagles The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) (formerly I-A) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to jo ...

from 1993 to 1996. He earned All-

Southern Conference The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...

and second-team GTE/

CoSIDA College Sports Communicators (CSC) is a membership association for all strategic, creative and digital professionals working in intercollegiate athletics across all levels for colleges, universities and conferences across the United States and Cana ...

Academic All-American An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the ...

honors his junior season. He recorded 130 tackles and 15 sacks his senior year in 1996, garnering Division 1-AA first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

and first-team All-Southern Conference recognition. Thomas majored in logistics and intermodal transportation at Georgia Southern.

Professional career

Thomas went undrafted in the 1997 NFL draft. He played in seven games for the

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) in 1997, totaling 18 defensive tackles, one special teams tackle, one sack, one interception, and three fumble recoveries. He appeared in three games in 1998, posting nine defensive tackles. He played in 12 games for the Alouettes in 1999, accumulating 24 defensive tackles, two sacks, ten special teams tackles, one forced fumble, and one pass breakup. Thomas signed with the

on June 7, 2000. He played in the first three games of the 2000 season, recording two solo tackles, before being released on September 19 and signed to the team's practice squad two days later. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 14 and appeared in one more game, posting two more solo tackles, before being released on November 2. Thomas was signed back to the practice squad on November 7 before being released again on November 14. Thomas was signed to the practice squad of the

on November 21, 2000. He was promoted to the active roster on November 29 and played in three games for the Jaguars that season, totaling four solo tackles. He was released on March 1, 2001, but later re-signed on April 2, 2001. He appeared in all 16 games, starting four in place of the injured T. J. Slaughter, for the Jaguars in 2001, accumulating 17 solo tackles and seven assisted tackles. Thomas appeared in four games during the 2002 season, recording two solo tackles, before being released on October 16, 2002. Thomas signed with the

on April 20, 2004. He was released on August 31, 2004. He was signed by the

on January 22, 2005. He was allocated to

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa) was a professional American football league that functioned as the List of developmental and minor sports leagues, developmental minor league of the Nati ...

to play for the

. He started all ten games for the Fire during the

2005 NFL Europe season The 2005 NFL Europe season was the 13th season in 15 years of the American Football league that started out as the World League of American Football. The Hamburg Sea Devils replaced the Scottish Claymores for the 2005 season. World Bowl XIII ...

, recording 57 defensive tackles, three special teams tackles, one sack, two forced fumbles, and one pass breakup. He was released by the Raiders on September 3, 2005.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Edward Living people 1974 births Players of American football from Thomasville, Georgia American football linebackers Canadian football linebackers Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia Southern Eagles football players Montreal Alouettes players San Francisco 49ers players Jacksonville Jaguars players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Oakland Raiders players Rhein Fire players