Travis John Thomas (born December 3, 1984) 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

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 ...

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 ...

for the

Notre Dame Fighting Irish The Notre Dame Fighting Irish are the athletic teams that represent the University of Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish participate in 26 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I intercollegiate sports and in the NCAA's Division ...

and was signed by 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 ...

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 2008.

Early years

Thomas graduated from Washington High School after a stellar football career. He won SuperPrep All-American honors, with a total of 2730 rushing yards, 25 receptions for 420 yards, and 56 touchdowns in his career. He also played outside linebacker in 2002 and made 137 tackles, which helped bring his team to a 15–0 season and a Pennsylvania Class AA state title. He was awarded MVP two years, and also won the scholar-athlete award at the

U.S. Army All-American Bowl The All-American Bowl (currently branded as the Navy All-American Bowl for sponsorship reasons) is a high school football all-star game, held annually at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Typically played in January, the All-American Bowl is p ...

College career

During the 2005

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 ...

season, Thomas saw action chiefly on special teams (in all 12 games) and also as a reserve halfback (in 10 games). As halfback he rushed 63 times for 248 yards with a total of five touchdowns. On special teams, he made a total of 132 appearances throughout the season with seven tackles. In 2006, he was moved to the position of linebacker because of his speed and physicality with Coach

Charlie Weis Charles Joseph Weis Sr. (born March 30, 1956) is a former American football coach. He was the head coach for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish from 2005 to 2009 and the Kansas Jayhawks from 2012 to 2014. He also served as an offensive coordinator in ...

's blessing and was appointed captain of special teams. He proved valuable to the Irish as a flexible player with his ability to play both offense and defense. Thomas moved back to halfback for the 2007 season and was named a captain along with Tom Zbikowski, Maurice Crum Jr., John Sullivan, and John Carlson.Weis Names Captains Early - UHND.com
/ref> He served primarily as a goalline back and led the team in rushing touchdowns.

Professional career

Cleveland Browns

Thomas went undrafted in the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL draft was the 73rd NFL draft, annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York (state), New York ...

and was subsequently signed by the

. He was waived/injured on August 30.

References

External links

Cleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Travis 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Washington, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Washington County, Pennsylvania American football running backs American football linebackers Notre Dame Fighting Irish football players Cleveland Browns players