Chad Thomas (born October 12, 1995), also known as Major Nine, is a former American football defensive end and rapper. 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 Miami (FL) and was drafted by the Browns in the third round of the

2018 NFL Draft The 2018 NFL Draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas; it was the first draft ...

High school career

Thomas led Booker T. Washington High School to the Class 4A state title as junior in 2012 and class 4A state champs as senior in 2013. He recorded 57 tackles and six sacks in 2012. He was named 2013 second-team All-USA by '' USA Today'' and tallied 71 tackles and eight sacks as senior. After high school, Thomas chose Miami over Alabama, Florida State, Arkansas and Duke.

College career

Thomas started every game as a senior, recording 41 tackles, 12.5 for a loss (leading the team) and 5.5 sacks.

Professional career

On December 27, 2017, it was announced that Thomas had accepted his invitation to play in the

2018 East-West Shrine Game Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short s ...

. He had a productive week of practice and separated himself as the top defensive end prospect playing in the East-West Shrine Game. On January 20, 2017, Thomas made one tackle as part of the East who lost 14–10 to the West in the 2018 East-West Shrine Game. His overall performance during the week garnered him an invitation to the

2018 Senior Bowl The 2018 Senior Bowl was an all-star college football exhibition game featuring players from the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season, and prospects for the 2018 draft of the professional National Football League (NFL). The game was the last ...

. Thomas also impressed scouts and team representatives during practices for the Senior Bowl, but was unable to play in the game due to an unspecified injury. Thomas attended the NFL Scouting Combine in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

and completed the majority of drills, but opted to skip the bench press, short shuttle, and three-cone drill. On March 28, 2018, Thomas participated at Miami's pro day and performed the 40-yard dash (4.78s), 20-yard dash (2.81s), 10-yard dash (1.74s), vertical jump (32.5"), broad jump (9'10"), short shuttle (4.83s), and three-cone drill (7.36s). At the conclusion of the pre-draft process, Thomas' draft projections varied from as early as the third or fourth rounds to as late as the sixth or seventh rounds by NFL draft experts and scouts. He was ranked as the 14th best defensive end in the draft by

Scouts Inc. Scouts Inc. is a partner of ESPN Inc. that specializes in scouting and evaluating current and future players and teams in professional, college and high school sports. The content is provided on the ESPN television networks, ESPN Radio and ESPN in ...

and was ranked the 19th best defensive end by DraftScout.com. The Cleveland Browns selected Thomas in the third round (67th overall) of the

. Thomas was the sixth defensive end drafted in 2018. On May 21, 2018, the Cleveland Browns signed Thomas to a four-year, $4.08 million contract that includes a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $1.04 million. Thomas was waived by the Browns on September 5, 2020.

Music career

Thomas is also a music producer and rapper, known as Major Nine. Thomas has worked with

Rick Ross William Leonard Roberts II (born January 28, 1976), known professionally as Rick Ross, is an American rapper. Prior to releasing his debut single, "Hustlin'", in 2006, Ross was the subject of a bidding war, receiving offers from Sean Combs, D ...

, Raphael Saadiq, and has produced his own music. In 2020, he appeared on

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

and Young Thug's mixtape ''

Slime & B ''Slime & B'' is a collaborative commercial mixtape by American singer Chris Brown and American rapper Young Thug. It was released on May 5, 2020, by Chris Brown Entertainment under exclusive licensing to RCA. The mixtape includes guest appeara ...

'', on the track "Trap Back". He released his album, "Soul Ties", on December 25, 2018, which led to a huge increase in his fanbase.

References

External links

Miami Hurricanes bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Chad 1995 births Living people American football defensive ends Cleveland Browns players Miami Hurricanes football players Players of American football from Miami Rappers from Miami Booker T. Washington Senior High School (Miami, Florida) alumni