Bryan Thomas (born June 7, 1979) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

22nd overall in the

2002 NFL Draft The 2002 NFL draft was the 67th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually sinc ...

and spent his entire 11-year career with the team. 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 ...

at the

University of Alabama at Birmingham The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) is a Public university#United States, public List of research universities in the United States, research university in Birmingham, Alabama. Developed from an academic extension center established i ...

Early life

Thomas was born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. He attended the

, where he played

for the

UAB Blazers The UAB Blazers are the varsity intercollegiate athletic programs that represent the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The school is one of the fourteen member institutions of Conference USA (C-USA) and participates in Division I of th ...

Professional career

The 6'4" Thomas had an impressive combine performance that elevated him from a mid-second round pick to the first round. Thomas played 15 games in his rookie year of 2002 collecting a half-sack and 5 total tackles. Thomas played all 16 games (10 started) in 2003 with a sack, 3 passes defended, one fumble recovery, and 26 total tackles. Thomas played in 14 games (6 started) of the 2004 season with 1.5 sacks, a pass defended, and 28 total tackles. Playing 16 games (4 starts) of the 2005 season, Thomas has 3.5 sacks, 2 passes defended, and 25 total tackles Thomas played his entire career as a defensive end until being converted to a linebacker in the 3-4 defense for the Jets during the 2006 NFL season. Thomas became a defensive end when Mangini used a 4-3 defense. Thomas led the New York Jets in sacks with 8.5 sacks. This was his breakout season playing as an outside linebacker with new head coach

Eric Mangini Eric Anthony Mangini (born January 19, 1971) is a former American football coach and current television sports analyst. Mangini had been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2013 and served as the team's tight ends coach for two seasons before b ...

. At the end of the 2006 season, Thomas was awarded a new contract. In 2007, Thomas reverted to the disappointing play that had previously been the hallmark of his career. This raised concerns that Thomas was a "one year wonder" or a "contract year" player. In particular, comments made by Thomas during the 2007 season where he said he had not thought it necessary to "continue to work to improve" left many Jets fans extremely concerned. Overall, Thomas finished the 2007 season with 2.5 sacks, one pass defended, a forced fumble, and 39 total tackles. Thomas had a mediocre 2008 season as he collected 5.5 sacks, one pass defended, 2 forced fumbles (1 recovery), and 38 total tackles. Thomas collected 2 sacks, one pass defended, 2 fumble recoveries, and 41 total tackles. He led the Jets into the playoffs until the team lost in the AFC Championship to the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

. In 2010, Thomas changed his jersey number to 58. He collected 6 sacks, one pass defended, a fumble recovery, and 31 total tackles. He led the Jets to the playoffs for the second season in a row but lost the AFC Championship to the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

. Thomas did not play long during the 2011 season as he suffered a torn Achilles tendon on October 2, 2011, which knocked him out for the rest of the season. Overall, he recorded 10 total tackles and one pass defended in 4 games played. Thomas was released by the Jets on September 22, 2012 after suffering a hamstring injury. Two days later, the Jets re-signed him. Thomas finished the 2012 season with 2.5 sacks, one pass defended, and 18 total tackles. Thomas was released after the season was over.

NFL statistics

Personal

His son, Bryan Thomas Jr, plays

for

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. Also, he was an assistant coach on his son’s high school football team.

References

External links

New York Jets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Bryan 1979 births Living people African-American players of American football American football defensive ends American football outside linebackers UAB Blazers football players New York Jets players People from Adamsville, Alabama Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American sportspeople