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JT thomas- Ready And Able
good stuff and backround on JT:
Thomas Ready And Able
Ben Kercheval
It started with a scare and ended with jubilation, but West Virginia linebacker J.T. Thomas still heard his name called during day three of the NFL Draft.
Thomas, a three-year starter for West Virginia, was selected in the sixth round by the Chicago Bears.
But as Thomas explained on Sportsline last night, it wasn’t the first time the senior saw his face during the draft coverage. Earlier that day, the Dallas Cowboys selected defensive back Josh Thomas from the University of Buffalo in the fifth round, but J.T.’s headshot was mistakenly used for the pick.
“The whole house went crazy. The whole house erupted. Everybody was crying and happy and I’m sitting there saying ‘Wait, I haven’t received a phone call.’” Thomas recalled. “And it turned out it was a mistake. Now I’m sitting around going ‘Geez, now what if I don’t get drafted?’”
Stunned, Thomas and his family waited once again. One round later, though, the correct team picked Thomas. A team that Thomas felt wanted him all along.
“It was really breathtaking. I didn’t know how to feel. I thought I would cry, but I didn’t,” Thomas said on getting the phone call from Bears head coach Lovie Smith. “It was just hard to believe that something I had worked for all my life was coming true.”
For now, Thomas will be continuing to work out and get in shape until the lockout ends. At that point, he will finally be able to join his teammates in the Windy City.
Once he’s there, Thomas will be in good company with veteran linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs in front of him.
“I’m just sitting here rubbing my hands together thinking there’s so much I can learn from those guys,” Thomas fantasized. “Hopefully I can learn a lot of things from him [Urlacher], the same way at West Virginia where I learned a lot from the guys before me.”
Thomas isn’t sure in what capacity he will contribute to the Bears’ notoriously good defense. There’s a good chance he’ll end up on special teams, but whatever Chicago needs, Thomas is willing to accommodate.
“I can tell you this: I’ll be available to do any and everything to contribute to the team. I’m not sure what the role will be, but I’m up for the challenge, whatever the challenge may be.”
http://www.wvmetronews.com/wvu.cfm?f...&storyid=45154
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Q/A with JT thomas:
April 30, 2011|By Staff report
On what he knows about the Bears defense
"This is what I know about this Bears defense, I'll be playing alongside some veterans like Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. That's the only thing I can tell you right now. It's the same defense that I played in at West Virginia, the same mentality, very aggressive. I'll also be playing alongside one of my best high school friends, Joshua Moore as well. It will definitely be fun and I'm very excited."
On his experience with special teams
"I played on every special teams [unit] at West Virginia University. When I was younger, I played a lot of different special teams. As I got older, I was a little more valuable
On what CB Joshua Moore told him about playing for the Bears
"He told me if you love football, you will love playing for the Bears. That's what he told me. He said there is a reason why the Bears are always one of the best defenses in the league; the whole attitude and everybody knows their job. The guys that are on the team really create the whole atmosphere for the whole team."
Last edited by dabears54; 05-03-2011 at 03:11 PM.
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West Virginia's Thomas a second-generation star
By Brian Bennett
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Now that he's a fifth-year senior, West Virginia linebacker J.T. Thomas says everything means more to him, including his final spring practices.
Playing for the Mountaineers holds deep meaning for Thomas, who's been around West Virginia football practically his entire life. His father, J.T. Sr., played the same position at the same school from 1994-95. Thomas signed with West Virginia despite overtures from then-Florida assistant Doc Holliday, who recruited his dad to Morgantown.
J.T. Sr. became a father at age 15, which presented its share of challenges but also meant that his son can remember watching the old man in college. The younger Thomas used to come up from Florida on Mountaineers football weekends and stay in his dad's apartment. He'd play college football video games and make sure he controlled his father's avatar. He has become, in fact, a better player in real life than his pops.
"He stepped in my shoes," J.T. Sr. said, "and he's about to run out of them."
The third-year starter at weakside linebacker was named an first-team All-Big East performer last season, when he collected 76 tackles and two interceptions.
"I had a decent year last year," he says. "I was probably not as consistent as I should have been, but I did everything I needed to do on the field."
Sentiments like that show that Thomas is a perfectionist.
"My son is more of a student of the game than I had ever been," J.T. Sr. said. "I get on him because he's a technician in the sense that he wants to do everything right, and sometimes you just have to be a football player."
Head coach Bill Stewart says Thomas is "really bringing it" in practice and has become one of the team's real leaders. Stewart questioned Thomas's seriousness about the game earlier in his career, but Thomas said he was simply misunderstood.
"I'm just a fun guy," he said. "I like to hang with my friends and live the college life. What [Coach Stewart] doesn't know is I am that much into football. I'm always coming in for extra work and I'm always in the film room. Sometimes he doesn't see that."
What's not up for debate is that Thomas is one of West Virginia's most instinctive defenders, with a gift for understanding the game plan and technique. Combine that with the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder's speed and athleticism, and you have one of the best linebackers in the Big East. Stewart wants the experienced Mountaineers defense -- they return all but two starters -- to put more pressure on opposing offenses this year, and Thomas will play a big role in that.
His father will be watching closely. J.T. Sr. works for a pharmaceutical company in Morgantown and lives across the street from Milan Puskar Stadium. He knows he wasn't as big a part of his son's life as he wanted during his own career -- "J.T. once told me, 'Dad, you missed my first everything,'" he says -- but now he's got a front-row view.
And the younger Thomas hopes to make it a good show in his final year, while he savors every last bit of his last go-around with Mountaineers football.
"Being here, playing the same position as my dad at the same school, everything is good," Thomas said. "Everything is special right now."
West Virginia's Thomas a second-generation star - Big East Blog - ESPN
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I like the pick both for the need and the player. Speed, size, sideline to sideline abilties. Now all we have to find out is whether he's another Lance Briggs or a Michael Okwo.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. 
Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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Originally Posted by
soulman 
I like the pick both for the need and the player. Speed, size, sideline to sideline abilties. Now all we have to find out is whether he's another Lance Briggs or a Michael Okwo.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!.. let's hope the former 100 times over!..
like his size/intelligence, its what we need for SLB.. and Also love what moore said about bears- to me that is what seperates this team and current times, from the 1990's when no one wanted to come here- players NOW WANT TO COME HERE, and be part of the team, so different than the 1990's and its when can tell you are becoming the upper part of league( despite the negativity here sometimes), and free agents and players happy to come here.
He told me if you love football, you will love playing for the Bears. That's what he told me. He said there is a reason why the Bears are always one of the best defenses in the league; the whole attitude and everybody knows their job
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High Fives / Like - 4 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Nice tape Butka, thanks. He seems to read and react well. Keeps the pass plays in front of him and tackles well. Get's his hands up in his drops and knocks down some balls. Nice speed and pursuit. To me he looks like a playmaking LB and exactly what Lovie wants out of his guys. I can see this guy anywhere including MLB and with his speed and motor he should be a destroyer on ST's.
I can't ever knock taking a shot at ST types for this team. All too often those are the guys who've kept us in games or gotten us back into them. This could be a guy very much like Ayanbadejo was a couple of years back and if he never does anything else but become a ST standout he will have been a good pick.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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High Fives / Like - 2 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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There are other reels on him on Youtube. He's well spoken, was the leader/speechmaker b4 games,intense. Seems like a good man. The kind who will do everything he can to get better. Wouldn't be surprised to see him become a starter one day.
What should you call any : Fumble , Hold , Interception , Three and out , or Sack ?
A " F.H.I.T.S " ? or a J'Marcus ?
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High Fives / Like - 1 BEAR DOWN!, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
Blue Horse-shoe There are other reels on him on Youtube. He's well spoken, was the leader/speechmaker b4 games,intense. Seems like a good man. The kind who will do everything he can to get better. Wouldn't be surprised to see him become a starter one day.
The more you see and read of this guy, he looks like a steal and a heck of a pickup from very late in the draft. That was a nice close after Enderle.
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It's only one game but he's playing lights out on every play on the video. If this is typical of his play we did get a steal.
I'm getting to that age where a lifetime warranty just doesn't mean as much to me anymore as an afternoon nap. Honey Badger Don't Care. Honey Badger Don't Give a Shit.
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