William Jeffrey Thomas (born August 7, 1949) is a former professional American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers and Kansas City Chiefs. He was drafted by the Cowboys in the first round of the

1972 NFL Draft The 1972 NFL draft was held February 1–2, 1972, at the Essex House in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Buffalo Bills selected defensive end Walt Patulski. Player selections Round one Round two ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

Early years

Thomas attended

Peekskill High School Peekskill High School, established in 1929, is located at 1072 Elm Street in Peekskill, New York, United States. It educates most of the district's ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. The school's current principal is Dr. Jenna Ferris. ...

, before accepting a football scholarship from

. In April 1970, he dislocated his left shoulder playing basketball, so he had to wear a harness during the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

season, until he was forced to have surgery and miss one game. In 1971, he helped the school achieve their best record (9-2) in a season since 1954, while posting 119 carries for 598 yards and 2 touchdowns. His versatility running and blocking was valued by the team, so he spent his playing time between the halfback and

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

positions. Fighting through injuries for most of his college career, he recorded a total of 931 career rushing yards (4.5-yard average), 2 touchdowns and was never the leading rusher on his team. He also lettered in

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

and ran the

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Coming off their

Super Bowl VI Super Bowl VI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Miami Dolphins to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the ...

win, the Dallas Cowboys entered the

worried about the future of Duane Thomas and the injury history of Calvin Hill, so they focused on their running back depth. With their first round draft choice the team selected Thomas, who was ranked sixth overall on their draft board and with their second draft choice they selected Robert Newhouse. He never fully recovered from the left shoulder injury he suffered in college and re-injured it during a dummy blocking drill in training camp. He went through surgery to repair the staple pin that was used to secure the shoulder in the original operation and was placed on injured reserve. He was activated for the eighth game of the 1972 season, touching the ball only twice as a rookie during kickoff returns. On September 28,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...

, he was waived due to his lack of progress and his injury history and to make room for running back

Cyril Pinder Cyril Calvin Pinder (November 13, 1946 – January 22, 2021) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, and Dallas Cowboys. He played col ...

Houston Oilers

On October 1,

, the Houston Oilers claimed him off waivers and played a reserve role during the season. On August 16,

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

, he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a seventh-round draft choice (#162-Mike Biehle).

Kansas City Chiefs

, he experienced some success playing special teams for the Kansas City Chiefs, returning 25 kickoffs for 571 yards. He was waived on August 2,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Personal life

Thomas was a teacher for more than 27 years, while also serving as coach and administrator at Madison Park High School and Gavin Middle School. He also had a stint with the

coaching staff of

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston. Established in 1898, the university offers undergraduate and graduate programs on its main campus as well as satellite campuses in ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Bill 1949 births Living people American football running backs Boston College Eagles football players Dallas Cowboys players Houston Oilers players Kansas City Chiefs players People from Peekskill, New York Players of American football from Westchester County, New York