Jahad Thomas (born November 6, 1995) is an American former professional
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 ...
. 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 ...
at
Temple University
Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...
, where he earned second-team All-
American Athletic Conference
The American Athletic Conference (AAC), also known as The American, is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States, featuring 13 full member universities and 6 affiliate member universities that compete in t ...
honors in 2016. He was signed by the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
as an
undrafted free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...
after the
2017 NFL draft
The 2017 NFL draft was the 82nd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. It was held in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27–29, returning to Philadelphia f ...
.
Early life
Thomas was born to Connie Thomas and Eddie Roberts in
Elizabeth, New Jersey
Elizabeth is a City (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Union County, New Jersey, Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Elizabeth High School where he played both football and basketball. Thomas captained both teams. In football, Thomas played both running back and cornerback. He played alongside his college quarterback, Phillip Walker who currently plays for the
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...
.
Coming out of high school, Thomas was ranked as three-star prospect by ESPN and the fourth best running back in the state of New Jersey. Thomas also played in the North-South All-Star Football Game.
College career
Thomas decided to sign with the Temple Owls in 2013. In his freshman team with the Owls, Thomas served as the team's kick returner. He missed a game against the
Army Black Knights
The Army Black Knights are the athletic teams that represent the United States Military Academy, located in West Point, New York.
The Black Knights compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as a non-footb ...
with a knee injury. His special teams play was good enough to warrant a spot on Phil Steele's All-Conference Third-team.
During the summer before his Sophomore year at Temple, Thomas transitioned into becoming a full-time running back. He did not start in the team's first game against Vanderbilt, but led the team with 44 yards on 12 carries. Temple went on to win that game. Later in the year, Thomas made his first start against
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
. His best start of the season came against
Tulsa
Tulsa ( ) is the second-most-populous city in the state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tul ...
when he ran for 152 yards and caught a 20-yard touchdown, the first of his Temple career.
Thomas' best year came as a Junior. He led Temple's offense with 1,262 rushing yards, 1,677 all-purpose yards, and scored 114 points. That year, Temple went 10–4 and 7–1 in the American Athletic Conference. On October 31, 2015, College Gameday was held in Philadelphia for Temple vs. Notre Dame. Temple went on to appear in the 2015 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game and the 2015 Boca Raton Bowl.
In his final year with Temple, Thomas ran for 953 yards. He gained enough yards to move up to fourth on Temple's all-time list in total yards. That year, Temple went on to win the
2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game
The 2016 American Athletic Conference Football Championship Game, held on Saturday, December 3, 2016, was the second football championship game for that conference. Houston defeated Temple, 24–13, in last year's game.
Teams Navy
The Navy Mids ...
Entering the draft, Thomas was labeled as a "Productive running back lacking in NFL-caliber size and strength but who makes up for it with his quickness and ability to help as a pass catcher and return man" by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com.
Dallas Cowboys
Thomas signed with the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...
as an undrafted free agent on May 12, 2017. He was waived on July 28, 2017.
New York Jets
On August 23, 2017, Thomas was signed by the
New York Jets
The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...
. He was waived on September 2, 2017. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 10, 2017. He was released on October 18, 2017. He was re-signed on December 12, 2017. He was promoted to the active roster on December 30, 2017. He was waived on April 14, 2018.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
On May 26, 2018, Thomas and the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...
announced that they had agreed to terms. He was cut by the team before the season started on June 10.
Memphis Express
In late 2018, Thomas was allocated to the
Memphis Express
The Memphis Express was a professional American football Franchise (sports), franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Lib ...
of the
Alliance of American Football
The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan area ...
.
San Diego Fleet
On January 21, 2019, Thomas was traded to the San Diego Fleet for tight end Darryl Richardson in the first trade in league history. He did not make the final roster.