Jaimie Franklin Thomas (born August 24, 1986) 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 ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He was drafted by 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 the seventh round of the

2009 NFL Draft The 2009 NFL Draft was the seventy-fourth annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. T ...

after playing

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for

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Early years

Thomas was born on August 24, 1986, in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

to Jerome and Charley Thomas. Two of his brothers, Jonathan and Joseph, also attended the University of Maryland. Jaimie Thomas attended Bishop McDevitt High School, where he played football and basketball, earning a letter in both three times. In football, he played as an

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

and

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

. As a sophomore, he allowed just one

quarterback sack In gridiron football, a sack occurs when the quarterback (or another offensive player acting as a passer) is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before throwing a forward pass, when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in th ...

, while allowing none during his junior and senior seasons. He served as part of a blocking unit for the state of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

's best rusher,

LeSean McCoy LeSean Kamel McCoy (born July 12, 1988), nicknamed "Shady", is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Pittsburgh and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the ...

, who, in 2003, rushed for 2,561 yards in ten games.Player Bio: Jaimie Thomas
University of Maryland, retrieved April 3, 2009. Thomas was named a SuperPrep All-American, PrepStar honorable mention, All-Northeast region, and first-team all-state player. He was named an all-conference player during both his senior and junior years.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

ranked him as a four-star recruit. He was recruited by Maryland, Notre Dame,

Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...

, and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. During his high school career, Thomas maintained a 3.7

grade-point average Grading in education is the process of applying standardized measurements for varying levels of achievements in a course. Grades can be assigned as letters (usually A through F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), as a percentage, or as a numbe ...

and was a member of the

National Honor Society The National Honor Society (NHS) is a nationwide organization for high school students in the United States and outlying territories, which consists of many chapters in high schools. Selection is based on four criteria: scholarship (academic achi ...

College career

Thomas sat out the 2004 season as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

. He served as a member of the

scout team The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see ''Glossary of Canadian football''. 0–9 ...

and was named the offensive scout team player of the week in the practices leading up to the game against

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...

. In

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, Thomas saw action in all 11 games, including one start at the left guard position, and recorded three "big" blocks while allowing one sack in 162 plays. Before the 2006 season, head coach

Ralph Friedgen Ralph Harry Friedgen (born April 4, 1947) is a former American football coach. He was most recently the special assistant coach for Rutgers in 2015 after serving as their offensive coordinator in the 2014 season. He was the head coach at the Uni ...

suspended Thomas and tackle

Jared Gaither Jared Dwight Gaither (born March 18, 1986) is a former American football offensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2007 Supplemental Draft. He played colle ...

from summer practice for two weeks due to unspecified team rules violations. Friedgen said that they were not in any legal trouble, and they returned after serving the suspension. In

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, he played in all 13 games including three starts at left guard. Thomas was part of the offensive line responsible for opening lanes for tailbacks

Lance Ball Lance Ball (born June 19, 1985) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at the University of Maryland. Ball has also been a member of the Ind ...

and Keon Lattimore, who

rush Rush(es) may refer to: Places United States * Rush, Colorado * Rush, Kentucky * Rush, New York * Rush City, Minnesota * Rush Creek (Kishwaukee River tributary), Illinois * Rush Creek (Marin County, California), a stream * Rush Creek (Mono Cou ...

ed for over 1,400 combined yards. The unit allowed 19 sacks, the second-best tally in the

Atlantic Coast Conference The Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) is a collegiate athletic conference located in the eastern United States. Headquartered in Greensboro, North Carolina, the ACC's fifteen member universities compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Associa ...

(ACC). In

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, Thomas played in eight games as a left guard, including seven starts, before he suffered a fractured right

fibula The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity is ...

against

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

.Before and after
, ''

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'', October 22, 2007. ''

'' correlated Maryland's defeat in that game to the loss of Thomas. Up to that point, Thomas had helped Ball and Lattimore again rush for almost 1,600 yards, and helped quarterback Chris Turner become the third-most efficient passer in the ACC. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, he played in all 13 games, including 12 starts. That season, the offensive line allowed

Da'Rel Scott Da'Rel Scott (born May 26, 1988) is a former American football running back. He was selected in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. He played college football for the University of Maryland, where he was a startin ...

to rush for 1,133 yards and Turner to throw for 2,516 yards, the seventh-highest single-season passing mark in school history. Before the season, he had been named an Athlon and Lindy's preseason second-team All-ACC player. The Associated Press and Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association named him an All-ACC honorable mention.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Thomas was selected in the seventh round of the

by the

as the 236th overall pick. The NFL Draft Scout had ranked him as eighth out of 192 offensive guard prospects for the draft and had projected him as a fifth-round selection. Thomas participated in the

NFL combine The NFL Scouting Combine is a week-long showcase occurring every February at Lucas Oil Stadium (and formerly at the RCA Dome until 2008) in Indianapolis, where college football players perform physical and mental tests in front of National Footba ...

, where he was

X-ray An X-ray, or, much less commonly, X-radiation, is a penetrating form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation. Most X-rays have a wavelength ranging from 10 picometers to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30&nb ...

ed in order to assess the fracture he suffered in 2007. He said that he believed he passed all the medical exams. Scouts were reportedly impressed by his arm length, a 78-inch wingspan, which Thomas said "helps in pass-blocking more than run-blocking ... me being able to lock onto guys."Long arms, good leg key for ex-Terp
''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

'', February 20, 2009. He spent the entire 2009 season on the Colts'

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

, and was re-signed to a future contract on February 11, 2010. He played in eight games for the Colts in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, but spent the entire 2011 season on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He was waived from the team on February 7, 2012.

Los Angeles Kiss

On October 4, 2013, Thomas was assigned to the Los Angeles Kiss of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

(AFL). He was reassigned on March 8, 2014.

Harrisburg Stampede

On March 15, 2014, Thomas signed with the

Harrisburg Stampede The Harrisburg Stampede were a professional indoor football team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Stampede participated in several different leagues over their history: the American Indoor Football Association in 2009 and 2010, the Southern ...

of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foot ...

(PIFL).

References

External links

Maryland Terrapins bioIndianapolis Colts bio
*Eric Prisbell

''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', November 18, 2008.
Q&A With Offensive Lineman Jaimie Thomas
University of Maryland, July 16, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jaimie 1986 births Living people Players of American football from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania American football offensive guards Maryland Terrapins football players Indianapolis Colts players Los Angeles Kiss players Harrisburg Stampede players