Keir S. Thomas (born January 25, 1998) is an American football linebacker for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division. The Rams play ...

of the National Football League (NFL). 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 South Carolina and Florida State.

Early life and education

Thomas was born on January 25, 1998, in Miami, Florida. He attended Miami Central Senior High School where he played nose guard, defensive end,

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 ...

and linebacker. He was a PrepStar All-American and recorded 71 tackles and 18 sacks as a junior, while making 22 sacks and 83 tackles as a senior. Rivals.com ranked him the 49th-best player in Florida and the 23rd-best strongside defensive end nationally. He was a first-team Class 6A all-state player and was named the ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a List of communities in Miami-Dade County, Florida, city in western Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the M ...

'' 8A-6A defensive player of the year. Thomas committed to the University of South Carolina and enrolled in January 2016. As a true freshman he appeared in all 13 games and started two, while recording 24 tackles and two sacks. In 2017, as a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

, Thomas started 11 out of 13 games and was credited with 38 tackles and two sacks while playing defensive end as well in the interior of the defensive line. His coach described him as being "invaluable" to the team. As a junior, Thomas played both defensive tackle and defensive end, starting 12 games making 44 tackles along with 1.5 sacks. In the 2019 fall camp, as a senior, Thomas suffered an ankle injury which resulted in an infection, keeping him out for almost the entire season. He appeared in only two games as a redshirt, recording four tackles. After the season finished, he was named one of six winners of the Dr. Harris Pastides Outstanding Student-Athlete Award. Thomas was one of the Gamecocks' top defensive linemen in the 2020 season, recording 32 tackles along with three sacks despite battling injuries from the prior year. In January 2021, he announced his intention to transfer. He committed to Florida State shortly afterwards. In one season for Florida State, Thomas started all 12 games and made 42 tackles, including 12 for-loss, as well as 6.5 sacks and 15 quarterback hurries. He was named team captain and was selected to the All-ACC third-team.

Professional career

Thomas was not invited to the NFL Combine and went unselected in the

2022 NFL Draft The 2022 NFL Draft was the 87th edition of the National Football League's annual draft and was held from April 28–30, 2022, at the Caesars Forum on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The first round was held on Thursday, April 28, and w ...

. On May 1, 2022, he was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent. He impressed in training camp, and posted a strong performance in the final preseason game which led to him being one of three undrafted rookies to make the Rams' final roster. He made his NFL debut in week one of the regular season, appearing on one defensive snap and 11 special teams snaps in the Rams' 10–31 loss to the

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

. He was waived on September 22, and re-signed to the practice squad two days later. He was promoted to the active roster on December 3, 2022.

References

External links

Los Angeles Rams bio

Florida State Seminoles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Keir 1998 births Living people American football defensive ends American football defensive tackles Sportspeople from Miami Miami Central Senior High School alumni South Carolina Gamecocks football players Florida State Seminoles football players Los Angeles Rams players