Julius Dewayne Thomas (born June 27, 1988) 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 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 ...

and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

at Portland State, and was drafted by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL draft. He also played for 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 ...

and

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. The Dolphins compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team ...

Early life

Thomas is the son of Greg and Toria Thomas. He has two brothers, Trenton and Marcus. Thomas graduated from Tokay High School in Lodi, California. Thomas graduated from

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, with a bachelor's degree in

Business Administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

College career

While at Portland State, Thomas was a First-team All-

Big Sky Conference The Big Sky Conference is a List of NCAA conferences, collegiate athletic conference, affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA's NCAA Division I, Division I with college football, football competing in the Football Cha ...

selection in football in 2010. He finished the season with 29 receptions for 453 yards and two touchdowns for Portland State's football team. Thomas had not played collegiate football prior to 2010. Thomas played four seasons for the Portland State basketball team. During his collegiate basketball career, Thomas set school records for career games played (121), career wins (78), and career field goals percentage (.663), and also participated on one Big Sky regular season championship team and two Big Sky tournament championship teams as well two NCAA Tournaments (2008 and 2009). He was twice named to the Big Sky All-Tournament team. As a senior, he averaged 10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds, and shot a school-record .671 from the field.

Professional career

Denver Broncos

2011 season

Thomas was selected in the fourth round with the 129th overall pick by the

in the 2011 NFL draft. He was the highest selected Portland State Viking since quarterback Neil Lomax was selected in the second round by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1980. His rookie contract was four years and $2,420,000 through the 2014 season. It included a $384,000 signing bonus. In his first NFL season, Thomas had only one catch as he battled various injuries. He appeared in five games on the season. Thomas's lone catch, which came from quarterback Kyle Orton, came on September 18 against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

2012 season

Thomas did not record any statistics in the 2012 season. He only appeared in four games.

2013 season

Thomas erupted onto the scene in the 2013 season. He scored his first and second career touchdowns in the season opener against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its home g ...

on September 5, 2013, having a five catch, 110-yard, two-touchdown breakout performance. Both of Thomas's touchdowns came from quarterback Peyton Manning. He followed up this performance in Week 2 with a six-catch, 47-yard performance that ended with a game-sealing touchdown against 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 ...

. In Week 3, he continued his scoring streak against 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 ...

with three receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown. Thomas played his best game of the season in Week 5, catching nine passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns in a 51–48 shootout win against 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 ...

. On October 13, he had four receptions for 22 yards and a touchdown against the

. On October 20, he had five receptions for 41 yards and a touchdown against 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 ...

. On November 10, 2013, he had three receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown against the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team in the National Football League (NFL). The Chargers played in San Diego, California from 1961 until 2016, before relocating back to the Greater Los Angeles area, where the franch ...

. In Week 16, in a win over the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team plays its home games at N ...

, Thomas caught a touchdown from Peyton Manning, which was his 51st touchdown pass of the season, which set a single season record. Thomas ended the season with 12 touchdown receptions, the most by any Denver Broncos tight end. Thomas and the Broncos reached

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

, where he had four receptions for 27 yards, but lost 43–8 to the Seattle Seahawks.

2014 season

In the first game of the 2014 season, the Broncos hosted the

. During that game, Thomas caught three first-half touchdown passes from quarterback Peyton Manning, tying former Bronco Shannon Sharpe's franchise record for the most touchdowns by a tight end in a single season game. The Broncos went on to win the game by a score of 31–24. In the next game, he had four receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

. In a Super Bowl XLVIII rematch in the following game, he had three receptions for 17 yards and a touchdown in an overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. On October 5, he had six receptions for 66 yards and two touchdowns against the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

. His first score was Peyton Manning's 500th career touchdown pass. Three days later, Thomas was fined $8,000 for a chop block on Cardinals

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

Calais Campbell. On October 12, against 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 had two receptions for 44 yards and two touchdowns, which tied Calvin Johnson's record of nine touchdowns through the first five games of a season. On November 2, he had two receptions for 33 yards and a touchdown against 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 ...

. On November 9, he had six receptions for 63 yards and two touchdowns against the

. Although his numbers in receptions and yards dropped from the previous season, Thomas recorded 12 touchdowns for the second straight season. Thomas and the Broncos made the playoffs in the 2014 season. They fell to the Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round 24–13. Thomas had six receptions for 53 yards in the loss.

Jacksonville Jaguars

2015 season

On March 10, 2015, Thomas signed a five-year, $46 million contract with the

. On October 18, Thomas had seven receptions for 78 yards and a touchdown against the

. On November 19, his five-yard touchdown catch was the game-winner in Jacksonville's 19–13 victory over the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. They play the ...

. On November 29, he had nine receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown against the

. On December 6, he had two receptions for 15 yards and a touchdown in another game against the Titans. On December 13, he had five receptions for 54 yards and a touchdown against the

. On the season, Thomas totaled 45 receptions for 455 yards and five touchdowns.

2016 season

Thomas started his second season in Jacksonville with five receptions for 64 yards and a touchdown against the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

on September 11. On October 23, he had three receptions for 20 yards and a touchdown against the

. On October 27, he had three receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown against the

. On November 13, he had six receptions for 24 yards and a touchdowns against the

. He was placed on injured reserve on December 10, 2016, after missing two games with a back injury. In the 2016 season, Thomas played in nine games with six starts recording 30 receptions for 281 yards and four touchdowns.

Miami Dolphins

The Jaguars traded Thomas to the

for the 240th overall pick ( Marquez Williams) in the 2017 NFL draft, where he signed a new two-year contract. He was placed on injured reserve on December 20, 2017. He played in 14 games with 12 starts, recording 41 catches for 388 yards for three touchdowns. On March 14, 2018, Thomas was released by the Dolphins.

Post retirement

On August 24, 2018, Thomas announced his retirement from the NFL to pursue a doctorate in psychology. He is currently studying clinical health psychology at Nova Southeastern University. In addition, he joined Psychology Services Center at Nova Southeastern University in 2020 In 2019, Thomas became the player advisory board member in the Football Players health Study Department at Harvard University. Later in 2021, he joined Memorial Rehabilitation Institute, providing clinical psychology and

neuropsychological Neuropsychology is a branch of psychology concerned with how a person's cognition and behavior are related to the brain and the rest of the nervous system. Professionals in this branch of psychology focus on how injuries or illnesses of the brai ...

services. In January 2022, he co-founded NESTRE Health and Performance, a neuro-strength solutions company, where he also works as chief health and performance innovation officer. As of 2024, Thomas is the

vice president A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

of the Society for Sports Neuroscience. The society works for scientists and practitioners in furthering research-based athletic performance and brain health.

NFL career statistics

Personal life

Thomas is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

References

External links

Portland State Vikings bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Julius 1988 births Living people American football tight ends Denver Broncos players Jacksonville Jaguars players Miami Dolphins players Players of American football from Stockton, California Portland State Vikings men's basketball players Portland State Vikings football players Unconferenced Pro Bowl players American men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen Tokay High School alumni Players of American football from Lodi, California