Jaimie Franklin Thomas (born August 24, 1986) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

. He was selected by 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 ...

in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft after playing

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

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

Early life

Thomas was born on August 24, 1986, in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

, to Jerome and Charley Thomas. Two of his brothers, Jonathan and Joseph, also attended the University of Maryland. Jaimie Thomas attended Bishop McDevitt High School, where he played football and basketball, earning a letter in both three times. In football, he played as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

. As a sophomore, he allowed just one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackle (football move), tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the l ...

, while allowing none during his junior and senior seasons. He served as part of a blocking unit for the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

's best rusher, LeSean McCoy, who, in 2003, rushed for 2,561 yards in ten games.Player Bio: Jaimie Thomas
, University of Maryland, retrieved April 3, 2009. Thomas was named a SuperPrep All-American, PrepStar honorable mention, All-Northeast region, and first-team all-state player. He was named an all-conference player during both his senior and junior years. Rivals.com ranked him as a four-star recruit. He was recruited by Maryland, Notre Dame,

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. During his high school career, Thomas maintained a 3.7

grade-point average Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

and was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is one of the oldest, largest, and most widely recognized cocurricular student organizations in American high schools, with 1.4 million members. The purpose of the NHS is to create enthusiasm for scholarship, to ...

College career

Thomas sat out the 2004 season as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

. He served as a member of the

scout team The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football Canadian football, or simply football, is a Sports in Canada, sport in Canada in which two teams of ...

and was named the offensive scout team player of the week in the practices leading up to the game against

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Thomas saw action in all 11 games, including one start at the left guard position, and recorded three "big" blocks while allowing one sack in 162 plays. Before the 2006 season, head coach

Ralph Friedgen Ralph Harry Friedgen (born April 4, 1947) is a former American football coach. He was most recently the special assistant coach for Rutgers in 2015 after serving as their offensive coordinator in the 2014 season. He was the head coach at the Un ...

suspended Thomas and tackle Jared Gaither from summer practice for two weeks due to unspecified team rules violations. Friedgen said that they were not in any legal trouble, and they returned after serving the suspension. In

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 ...

, he played in all 13 games including three starts at left guard. Thomas was part of the offensive line responsible for opening lanes for tailbacks Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore, who rushed for over 1,400 combined yards. The unit allowed 19 sacks, the second-best tally in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, the ACC's eighteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athlet ...

(ACC). In

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, Thomas played in eight games as a left guard, including seven starts, before he suffered a fractured right

fibula The fibula (: fibulae or fibulas) or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. ...

against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

.Before and after
, ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American Conservatism, conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It covers general interest topics with an emphasis on Politics of the United States, national politics. Its broadsheet daily edit ...

'', October 22, 2007. ''

'' correlated Maryland's defeat in that game to the loss of Thomas. Up to that point, Thomas had helped Ball and Lattimore again rush for almost 1,600 yards, and helped quarterback Chris Turner become the third-most efficient passer in the ACC. 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 ...

, he played in all 13 games, including 12 starts. That season, the offensive line allowed Da'Rel Scott to rush for 1,133 yards and Turner to throw for 2,516 yards, the seventh-highest single-season passing mark in school history. Before the season, he had been named an Athlon and Lindy's preseason second-team All-ACC player. The Associated Press and Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association named him an All-ACC honorable mention.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Thomas was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 NFL draft by the

as the 236th overall pick. The NFL Draft Scout had ranked him as eighth out of 192 offensive guard prospects for the draft and had projected him as a fifth-round selection.Jaimie Thomas, Maryland, OG
NFL Draft Scout, retrieved April 3, 2009. Thomas participated in the

NFL Combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Foot ...

, where he was

X-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

ed in order to assess the fracture he suffered in 2007. He said that he believed he passed all the medical exams. Scouts were reportedly impressed by his arm length, a 78-inch wingspan, which Thomas said "helps in pass-blocking more than run-blocking ... me being able to lock onto guys."Long arms, good leg key for ex-Terp
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'', February 20, 2009. He spent the entire 2009 season on the Colts'

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

, and was re-signed to a future contract on February 11, 2010. He played in eight games for the Colts in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, but spent the entire 2011 season 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 ...

. He was waived from the team on February 7, 2012.

Los Angeles Kiss

On October 4, 2013, Thomas was assigned to the

Los Angeles Kiss The Los Angeles Kiss (stylized as LA KISS) were a professional arena football team based in Anaheim, California, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Kiss joined the AFL as an expansion team after Los Angeles' previous franchise ( ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL). He was reassigned on March 8, 2014.

Harrisburg Stampede

On March 15, 2014, Thomas signed with the Harrisburg Stampede of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor F ...

(PIFL).

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bioIndianapolis Colts bio
*Eric Prisbell

''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', November 18, 2008.
Q&A With Offensive Lineman Jaimie Thomas
, University of Maryland, July 16, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jaimie 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American football offensive guards Maryland Terrapins football players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Kiss players Harrisburg Stampede players