Matthew Thomas (born July 21, 1995) is an American 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 ...

. 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 ...

Florida State Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

. He signed with the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

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 ...

in 2018.

Early life

Matthew grew up the 4th oldest out of 8 kids in the Overtown Section of Miami-Dade County. Growing up very poor Thomas found his niche in football and quickly became a legend on the gridiron within the city of Miami, earning himself the nickname "Big 6".Thomas vowed to break the cycle of poverty in his family. Thomas attended Booker T. Washington High School in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He was rated consensus five-star recruit coming out of high school and was ranked among the top prospects in his class. He committed to

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

to play college football on

National Signing Day National Signing Day has traditionally been the first day that a high school senior can sign a binding National Letter of Intent for a collegiate sport with a school that is a Division II member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ...

in 2013.

College career

As a freshman at Florida State in 2013, Thomas played in four games before undergoing season-ending shoulder surgery. He received a medical redshirt and did not play in that season's National Championship Game. Due to failing a drug test at the National Championship Game, Thomas was suspended for the first six games of the 2014 season. After serving his suspension, he returned to game action against Notre Dame on October 18, 2014. He went on to tally 26 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss on the season. He also played in that season's

Rose Bowl Rose Bowl or Rosebowl may refer to: * Rose Bowl Game, an annual American college football game * Rose Bowl (stadium), Pasadena, California, site of the football game, and the home stadium of the UCLA Football team * Rose Bowl (cricket ground), West ...

, registering three solo tackles and one assisted tackle. In 2015, Thomas was suspended for the entire season due to being academically ineligible. Thomas would bounce back in 2016 as the second leading tackler on the team. In that season's

Orange Bowl The Orange Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in the Miami metropolitan area. Played annually since 1935 Orange Bowl, January 1, 1935, it is tied with the Sugar Bowl and the Sun Bowl as the second-oldest bowl games in ...

, he made nine solo tackles and assisted on six tackles. In 2017, Thomas played in 11 of the team's 12 regular season games, and then decided not to play in the

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bow ...

. He later accepted an invitation to play in the

2018 East–West Shrine Game The 2018 East–West Shrine Game was the 93rd staging of the all–star college football exhibition to benefit Shriners Hospital for Children. The game was played at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida, on January 20, 2018, with a 3:07&nb ...

Professional career

Pittsburgh Steelers

Thomas signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2018. He made the Steelers 53-man roster as an undrafted rookie, playing in 10 games before being waived on December 1, 2018 and re-signed to the practice squad.

Baltimore Ravens

On January 2, 2019, Thomas signed a reserve/future contract with 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 ...

. He was waived on August 1, 2019.

St. Louis BattleHawks

Thomas signed with the St. Louis BattleHawks of the XFL on January 8, 2020. He was waived during final roster cuts on January 22, 2020.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Thomas signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the CFL on April 14, 2020. After the CFL canceled the 2020 season due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Thomas chose to opt-out of his contract with the Roughriders on September 1, 2020. He opted back in to his contract on December 29, 2020.

Edmonton Elks

Thomas joined the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

in free agency on January 12, 2022. On June 2, 2023, Thomas was released by the Elks.

References

External links

Edmonton Elks bioFlorida State Seminoles bio
at

Sports Reference Sports Reference, LLC is an American sports statistics company that operates databases of several sports. They include Pro Football Reference for American football, Baseball Reference for baseball, Basketball Reference for basketball, Hockey ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Matthew 1995 births Living people Booker T. Washington Senior High School (Miami, Florida) alumni Players of American football from Miami American football linebackers Florida State Seminoles football players Pittsburgh Steelers players Baltimore Ravens players St. Louis Battlehawks players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Players of Canadian football from Miami