J. T. Thatcher (born July 12, 1978) is an American former

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 ...

player who was a

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Oklahoma Sooners The Oklahoma Sooners are the college athletics in the United States , athletic teams that represent the University of Oklahoma, located in Norman, Oklahoma, Norman. The 19 men's and women's varsity teams are called the "Sooners", a reference to ...

. He was named a consensus

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 ...

in 2000.

Early life

J. T. Thatcher was born in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

, on July 12, 1978. He attended

Norman High School Norman High School is a four-year Public school (government funded), public high school in Norman, Oklahoma, with a steady enrollment of approximately 2,000 students. It is accredited by North Central Association, the Oklahoma State Department ...

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, 3rd most populous city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,026 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the most populous city and the county seat of Clevel ...

College career

Thatcher was a member of the

of the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

from 1997 to 2000. He played both

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

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 ...

in 1997, totaling 21 carries for 54 yards and one touchdown and four receptions for 45 yards. He was listed as a running back in 1998 but did not play any. Thatcher was moved to defensive back in 1999 but appeared on special teams for most of the season, returning four punts for 146 yards and one touchdown. In 2000, he started the first seven games of the season at defensive back. He was then benched for performance for two games before returning as the starter. Overall, he recorded 60 tackles, eight interceptions for 162 yards and one touchdown, and 16 pass breakups while also returning 38 punts for 599 yards and two touchdowns and 11 kicks for 264 yards. He led the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, 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 ...

in interceptions, interception return yards, interception return touchdown, punt returns, and punt return yards that season. Thatcher also finished third in the country in interceptions, third in punt returns, and second in punt return yards. He was named a consensus

for his performance during the 2000 season. The 2000 Sooners were consensus national champions. Thatcher also won the Mosi Tatupu Award in 2000, given to the best special teams player in the country.

Professional career

Thatcher was rated the 15th best

free safety Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the American football positions#Defense, defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two var ...

in the

2001 NFL draft The 2001 NFL draft was the 66th draft annual of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at the Th ...

by NFLDraftScout.com. ''

Pro Football Weekly ''Pro Football Weekly'' (sometimes shortened to ''PFW'') is an American sports magazine, founded in 1967, and website that covers the National Football League (NFL). It was owned by Pro Football Weekly LLC and headquartered in Riverwoods, Illin ...

'' stated that Thatcher "Can make a team with his return skills and possibly develop as a defensive back with lots of reps and more experience." He signed 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 ...

in April 2001 after going undrafted. He was released in June 2001. Thatcher also spent time with the

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 was released on April 21, 2002.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thatcher, J.T. Living people 1978 births Place of birth missing (living people) American football defensive backs American football wide receivers American football running backs American football return specialists Oklahoma Sooners football players San Francisco 49ers players Oakland Raiders players All-American college football players Players of American football from Norman, Oklahoma 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Norman High School alumni Players of American football from Oklahoma City

Early life

College career

Professional career

See also

References