Jamario Thomas (born May 10, 1985) is a former

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

for the

North Texas Mean Green North Texas Mean Green (formerly North Texas Eagles) represents the University of North Texas (UNT) in intercollegiate athletics. The teams compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). North Texas competed in th ...

. Thomas led the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in rushing as a

true freshman Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 2004.

Early life

Thomas played

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

at Spring Hill High School in

Longview, Texas Longview is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, and county seat of Gregg County, Texas, Gregg County; a small part of Longview extends into the western portion of neighboring Harrison County, Texas, Harrison County. Longview is located in East Tex ...

College career

2004

Thomas posted his best statistical performances his freshman year. In 2004, he was named

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

Player of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. He led the nation in rushing yards, averaging 180.1 yards per game and ranked fifth in the nation for scoring, averaging 11.3 points per game. He set both school and conference records with 1,801 yards for the season and set the

freshman record for total number of 200 yards games with 5. Thomas also tied the NCAA record for the being the fastest to reach 1,000 yards at seven games and was one of only three freshmen ever to rush for over 1,800 yards.

2005-2007 seasons

Thomas's next two seasons were considered "disappointing" based on his performance his freshman year. Although he has had hamstring problems during his sophomore and junior years, his "sudden free fall is perplexing" to NFL scouts. In his senior year, he played in 11 games but only carried the ball 116 times.

Fallout from upperclass years

Thomas's performance his sophomore through senior years was considered by NFL Scouts to be less than adequate for the NFL. Injuries slowed Thomas as he moved deeper into his career and he was "snubbed" by the NFL immediately after his senior year and was not picked up during the

NFL Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

.Sports Illustrated
"2008 NFL Draft" Jamario Thomas

References

External links

North Texas Mean Green Sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jamario 1985 births Living people People from Longview, Texas American football running backs North Texas Mean Green football players Oklahoma Defenders players