Wash High grad Thomas to pursue NFL dream
All Bryan Thomas wanted for the past year is a chance.
A chance to show he can still play football. An opportunity to prove he learned a very important lesson. One shot at trying to fulfill his dream.
It might not be the path by which he thought he might get that chance, but opportunity knocked last week for Thomas when the Washington High School graduate was selected in the 16th round of the Major League Football draft.
Thomas will get another shot at football with an opportunity to possibly play his way into an NFL camp.
“I’m excited about the opportunity,” said the 24-year-old Thomas, who played collegiately at Bowling Green. “In two weeks, I report to training camp in Orlando. From there, we’ll spend a couple of weeks training there and then we will go back to work out with the teams that drafted us.”
What’s Major League Football?
According to the league’s website, it will be a spring league owned by one company consisting of eight teams in markets that do not already have an NFL team. The team that selected Thomas will be located in the Canton-Akron area of Ohio and will be coached by longtime college and NFL assistant coach Larry Kirksey, who most recently was a wide receivers coach for the Houston Texans.
Each team will play 10 regular season games from April through July, meaning it won’t clash with the NFL. In fact, the league views itself as possibly a minor league to the NFL.
“It’s supposed to be like the NBA Developmental League,” Thomas said. “There are a lot of guys who have been on NFL rosters or been to camps with NFL teams. The idea is that if you do well in this league, when the season is over, you can get picked up by an NFL team in time for training camp.”
Though the details are still in the process of being finalized, the league does have some well-known help. Former Pro Bowl player and assistant coach Wes Chandler is league president. Longtime NFL head coach and television analyst Herm Edwards is the league’s senior advisor and the other head coaches in addition to Kirksey include former NFL head coach Dave Campo and longtime high-profile assistants Ted Cottrell and Chris Miller, among others. Former Penn State offensive coordinator Galen Hall also will be a head coach in the league.
The league isn’t limiting itself strictly to young players.
The first player selected in the draft by Kirksey was former Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour, who was Steelers receiver Antonio Brown’s quarterback in college. LeFevour was a sixth-round draft pick of Chicago in 2010 and has spent the past few years playing in the Canadian Football League.
Others taken in the draft included a number of former Steelers, linebacker Sylvester Stevenson, tight end Cam Clear, running back Jordan Hall, defensive lineman Joe Kruger and others.
“That’s a big draw for me, there are a lot of guys in this league who have spent time with NFL teams,” said Thomas. “I’ll get a chance to prove myself against guys like that and be coached by coaches with NFL experience.”
It’s a chance he thought may have never come.
A standout pass rusher at Bowling Green, Thomas (6-2, 247) applied for and received a sixth season of eligibility from the NCAA after having his redshirt freshman season ended just three games in because of a knee injury.
He was coming off a season in which he helped the Falcons to the MAC championship game and a bowl win over South Alabama with a team-best six sacks, as well as 47 tackles and four forced fumbles.
But Thomas was suspended from the team last June after getting involved in a bar fight. He was charged with felonious assault and though he eventually pleaded the case down to misdemeanor charges, it was too late to save his final season of college football.
“I made a mistake; I messed up,” said Thomas, who earned his degree in communications with a minor in marketing. “But I learned from it and it’s not something that’s going to happen again. I learned that as a student-athlete, all eyes are on you and you have to hold yourself to a higher standard. You’ve got a lot to lose.”
That was driven home with Thomas as he watched his chance at a final college season slip away. But he continued to work out around his work schedule, hoping opportunity would knock.
That’s when he got a call from one of the Major League Football coaches.
“He asked if I was interested in playing,” Thomas said. “He said he had heard that I was a pretty good player and they were thinking of drafting me.”
Now, Thomas can prove he has what it takes.
An undersized defensive end, he could be asked to play outside linebacker as well. When he wasn’t sure if he would be granted a sixth season of eligibility by the NCAA, Thomas participated in Bowling Green’s Pro Day last March.
He was timed as fast as 4.77 seconds in the 40-yard dash and managed 22 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press.
“Teams have looked at me kind of as both,” Thomas said of defensive end and linebacker. “I feel like it’s more of a blessing than a curse. I can do either one.”
If he can show that kind of ability in Major League Football, perhaps it will put his career plans back on track. And maybe when the season is over, an NFL team will call.
“I know the talent is there,” Thomas said. “I messed up. But it was a one-time thing and it’s not going to happen again. I’m just happy I’m getting a chance to move past that.”