Randy Thomas (born January 19, 1976) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

guard. He was drafted by the New York Jets in the second round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater a ...

. He played college football at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univer ...

. Thomas was also a member of the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

and

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

Early years

Thomas did not start playing football until the tenth grade at Tri Cities High School. He gained special recognition form in the state of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

as a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

. Thomas also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, playing both forward and center, and played

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

on the prep level, where he was a pitcher.

College career

Prior to his career at

, Thomas was an All-America, All-State & all-Region selection as a two-year starter at "tight" guard at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. He was rated the best JUCO lineman in the state by the

Jackson Clarion-Ledger ''The Clarion Ledger'' is an American daily newspaper in Jackson, Mississippi. It is the second-oldest company in the state of Mississippi, and is one of the few newspapers in the nation that continues to circulate statewide. It is an operating d ...

and the fifth-best player overall. He helped Copiah-Lincoln to a 15–5 record during his junior college career, including 8-2 his freshman campaign. Thomas started every game in his two years at Mississippi State after transferring from junior college. He quickly established himself as one of the Bulldogs’ top offensive linemen. Earned 1st-team all-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

honors and was also an SEC Academic Honor Roll recipient. He started all 12 games at RG, led the team with 90 knockdowns as he showed excellent consistency for an offense that gained 3870 yards. On October 4, 2016, Thomas was named to the 2016 SEC Football Legends Class.

Professional career

New York Jets

Thomas was drafted in the

by the New York Jets. He started all 16 games during his rookie season in 1999 and helped

Curtis Martin Curtis James Martin Jr. (born May 1, 1973) is a former American football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons, primarily with the New York Jets. He spent his first three seasons with the New England Patri ...

rush for a team-record 1,464 yards and achieve six 100-yard rushing games. He also kept the Jets sack-free for four games. In 2000, he started all 16 games at right guard and did not miss one snap during the entire season. He played a key role on an offensive line that tied

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 club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 20 ...

for fewest sacks allowed during the regular season (20) and helped the Jets offense become one of the most dangerous in the NFL, averaging 337.2 yards per game (12th best in the NFL). The passing offense, which averaged 245.3 yards per game, was sixth best in the league. The offensive line shut out opposing defenses five times in the sack category, the best mark in the league. Thomas played and started 13 games for the New York Jets in 2001, missing three games due to an ankle injury. He helped the squad finish with 2,054 (128.4 avg.) rushing yards, good for fourth in the NFL and second in the AFC. He assisted the team to rush for 125 yards or more in eight contests and helped the team average four yards or more in ten games. Thomas helped allow the team to top the 300 total yard mark seven times during the season and assisted in the offense not allowing a sack in five contests. Thomas was the starting right guard for the New York Jets for all 16 games of the 2002 season, clearing the path for Curtis Martin's 1,094 rushing yards on the year. He made his 50th career start, in week five against Kansas City and helped open holes for Martin's 119 yards on the ground. Thomas also helped pave the way for the teams 180 yards rushing and a 41–0 win over the Colts in the AFC wild card game.

Washington Redskins

Thomas came to the Redskins for the 2003 season, where he solidified the right guard position and teamed with right tackle

Jon Jansen Jonathan Ward Jansen (born January 28, 1976) is a former American football offensive tackle. He previously played for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the se ...

to form a formidable right side of the offensive line for the Redskins offense. Thomas along with John Hall,

Laveranues Coles Laveranues Leon Coles (; born December 29, 1977) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 11 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New York Jets. He played college football ...

, and

Chad Morton Chad Akio Morton (born April 4, 1977) is a former American football running back and kick/punt returner in the National Football League. He was drafted from USC late in the fifth round of the 2000 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. After a s ...

were officially nicknamed "The Jetskins," a nickname given to them for all leaving the New York Jets and signing with the

the same year in 2003. Starting all 16 games in 2003, he blocked well for a group of Redskin running backs led by Trung Canidate's 600 rushing yards and was solid in pass protection for Patrick Ramsey and Tim Hasselbeck. He earned a nod as a Pro Bowl third alternate for his efforts. In 2004, he started 15 games at right guard, missing one game due to a severe hamstring injury and helping

Clinton Portis Clinton Earl Portis (born September 1, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. He was drafte ...

rush for 1,315 yards that season. On September 20, 2009, Thomas suffered a severe triceps injury in a game against the St. Louis Rams, tearing the muscle completely off the bone. He was released on March 4, 2010.

Miami Dolphins

Thomas signed with the Dolphins on August 18, 2010.Dolphins sign veteran Thomas to compete for time at guard
NFL.com. He was released on August 25, after re-injuring his arm.

Personal

During the 2004 offseason, Thomas opened up a Rib joint in suburban

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

called RT's. The restaurant specializes in southern-style barbecue ribs. Also Thomas took on world-ranked professional eater

Sonya Thomas Sonya Thomas (born Lee Sun-kyung on July 26, 1967), also known by her nickname The Black Widow, and "The Leader of the Four Horsemen of the Esophagus", is a South Korean-born American competitive eater from Alexandria, Virginia. Thomas joine ...

(no relation) and was defeated in a shrimp eating contest.

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Randy 1976 births Living people People from East Point, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Sportspeople from Fulton County, Georgia American football offensive guards African-American players of American football Copiah-Lincoln Wolfpack football players Mississippi State Bulldogs football players New York Jets players Washington Redskins players Miami Dolphins players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople Ed Block Courage Award recipients