USA Football

Josh Thomas earned prestigious honors for his performance during his high school fooball days.

 

His prep experiences, Thomas said, were exciting enough, although nothing could quite compare with playing for a Super Bowl champion. His fourth year in the NFL brought Thomas a Super Bowl ring as a defensive end for the Indianapolis Colts.

Thomas had 35 tackles, 29 solos and one sack, plus one fumble recovery during the regular season for the 2006 Colts. He also missed two games with an injury. His highlight of the playoffs was a fumble recovery against Kansas City.

 

“It sounds like an old cliché, but everybody grows up wanting to play for a Super Bowl championship team,” Thomas said. “I feel fortunate for it to have happened so early in my career. Some people wait their whole life and it doesn’t happen. Hopefully I can keep going strong with my career.

 

“As you get older, you have a little bit more confidence and you know what it takes. You have to be able to perform every day.”

 

The season after the Super Bowl especially excites Thomas.

 

“You have to pay attention to the little things,” he said. “I’ve been really happy with my career, especially as an undrafted free agent. Your first goal is just to make the team. I played a lot in my rookie year. Every year I’ve played more and better. I continue to improve.”

 

Thomas signed as a free agent with the Colts on April 30, 2004. In 2004, he was considered a productive undrafted rookie free agent who played in his first 11 games before suffering a season-ending injury at Detroit.

 

Thomas had a banner college career as three-year starter at defensive end for Syracuse and had 124 career tackles, 68 solo, nine sacks, 23 tackles for losses and two interceptions. He picked up Syracuse’s Pat Miller Award for Outstanding Athlete, Student and Citizen. As a sophomore, he had a career high of seven tackles and three quarterback pressures.

 

Thomas, born in Plymouth, Mass., went to Orchard Park High School in New

York and was a Super Prep all-region selection. He was first team all-state and all-state western New York. He picked up the Jim Burt Award for best lineman in Western New York and was the division player of the year. When he was a senior, he set the New York state record in quarterback sacks with 24.

 

He has plenty of memories of his prep football career.

 

“We always had a very good football team there,” he said. “We always managed to make it to the sectional round. Year in and year out, we put together a good football team.

 

“In high school, you try to make as many plays as possible. I was taught how to keep moving and keep going after the ball. High school football taught me how to hustle.”

 

Thomas has played defensive end since the eighth grade.

 

“I didn’t think of a pro career while I was in high school,” he said. “My main sport was wrestling until my junior year in high school. I realized at that time maybe I could go to school for free if I played football. That gave me something I could shoot for. After my junior year in college, I thought I might have a shot at the pros. But I was an undrafted free agent.”

 

But now, as far as his hopes for a lengthy NFL career, “I think I’m on the right path,” Thomas said. “I’m progressing at the right level. I want to be doing this for a long time.”

 

Thomas realizes many high school football players harbor dreams of an NFL

career.

 

“The thing that separates a player on the field from being on film that college recruiters will watch is the hustle aspect,” Thomas said. “Will you be in the main frame? You want to be in the frame when someone notices you and if you’re there to make the play. It depends a lot on heart and desire because that’s when you’re always hustling.

 

“The only way you can become a good college player is to be a good high school player. In high school, you have to be willing to put in the time.”

 

High school football has changed dramatically since his years in the sport, Thomas said.

 

“More and more teams are opening up their weight rooms and having spring football,” he said. “It’s the main sport in America. In my high school, I played two or three different sports. I was a late bloomer with football.”

 

Right now, the Indianapolis Colts are the beneficiaries of that.

 

Parents can nominate youth football coaches at all levels online at ResponsibleSports.com through November 15.  Winners will be announced in December. 

 

Story courtesy of Red Line Editorial, Inc.