Marcus Bernard Thomas (born May 28, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

and

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He was drafted by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the fifth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. 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 Texas-El Paso.

Early years

Thomas attended Tolleson Union High School in Tolleson, Arizona. As a sophomore, he was the backup of future NFL player Mike Bell. As a junior, he was a two-way player at

and

free safety Safety is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety and the strong safety. Their dut ...

. He registered 2,087 rushing yards, 27 touchdowns and 25 receptions for 580 yards, while leading Tolleson to the 4A state playoffs. He received All-Region and All-state honors. As a senior, he was named Arizona State High School Player of the Year and a Parade All-American, after setting Arizona high school records for rushing yards in a single-season with 3,573 yards and 47 touchdowns. He also made 10 receptions for 350 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. Thomas set the state record for career 400-yard rushing games, single-season 400-yard rushing games and the single-game rushing record with 424 yards against Moon Valley High School. He left as the state of Arizona's all-time leading high school rusher with 5,878 yards and only the third back in state history with back-to-back 2,000-yard rushing seasons. He also lettered in

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. He competed in the

100 metres The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been conteste ...

200 metres The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

4 × 100 metres relay The 4 × 100 metres relay or sprint relay is an athletics track event run in lanes over one lap of the track with four runners completing 100 metres each. The first runners must begin in the same stagger as for the individu ...

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

. As a sophomore he was part of the team that won the state title. As a junior, the team finished second, with him taking first place in the

, second in the

, third in the

and fourth in the

at the state meet.

College career

Thomas accepted a football scholarship from the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

. As a freshman, he appeared in 10 games, collecting 37 carries for 145 yards (3.9-yard avg.) and 3 receptions for seven yards. As a sophomore, he began the season as a redshirt. He played in 11 games, becoming a starter in the last 6 contests. He posted 149 carries for 791 yards (5.3-yard avg.), 5 rushing touchdowns, 32 receptions for 440 yards (13.8-yard avg.), 5 receiving touchdowns, 4 kickoff returns for 65 yards (16.2-yard avg.) and 1,296 (117.8 ypg) all-purpose yards. He rushed for 100 yards in the final four regular-season games (469 yards), becoming the first player in school history to compile four consecutive 100-yard rushing games. He had his breakout game against

Tulane University Tulane University, officially the Tulane University of Louisiana, is a private university, private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded as the Medical College of Louisiana in 1834 by seven young medical doctors, it turned into ...

, registering 203 yards of total offense with 93 yards rushing (12 carries, one touchdown) and 110 receiving (five receptions). He ranked seventh in the conference and 70th in the nation in rushing (71.9 ypg), seventh in C-USA and 59th in the NCAA in all-purpose yards (117.8 ypg). As a junior, he appeared in 11 games with 10 starts. He led the team with 156 carries for 513 yards (3.3-yard avg.) and 5 rushing touchdowns. He also made 39 receptions (third on the team) for 242 yards (fifth on the team) and one receiving touchdown. He rushed for a career-high 207 yards and 3 touchdowns against SMU, helping the team tie the second-largest comeback in program history with a 48-45 overtime win. As a senior, he led the team with 227 carries for 1,166 yards (5.1-yard avg.), 16 rushing touchdowns. He was fifth on the team with 20 receptions for 268 yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. He ranked ninth in the nation in scoring (9.8 points per game) and 26th in rushing (106 yards per game). He had a school-record seven 100-yard games, becoming only the seventh player in Miner history to rush for more than 1,000 yards and the fourth to score more than 100 points in a single-season. He finished his career as the school's fifth all-time leading rusher (2,615 yards), third-leading scorer (26 rushing touchdowns), fourth in 100-yard games (11) and seventh in all-purpose yards (3,660).

Professional career

San Diego Chargers

Thomas was selected by the

in the fifth round (166th overall) of the

2008 NFL draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. He was waived on August 30.

Detroit Lions

On August 31, 2008, a day after being let go by the Chargers, Thomas was claimed off waivers by the

. He appeared in three games for the Lions before being waived on October 9 when the team signed

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

Moran Norris Torrance Moran Norris (; born June 16, 1978) is a former American football fullback. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Kansas. Norris has also played for the Hou ...

. During his three games with the Lions, he returned four kickoffs for 93 yards (a 23.3 yards average return).

Dallas Cowboys

On December 17, 2008, he was signed to the

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, ...

of the

and remained there through the end of the season.

Cleveland Browns

On January 7, 2009, he was signed to a future contract by the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. He was waived on July 15.

Denver Broncos

On August 12, 2009, he was signed as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. He was waived on September 4.

References

External links

UTEP Miners bioDetroit Lions bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Marcus 1984 births Living people Players of American football from Phoenix, Arizona American football running backs UTEP Miners football players San Diego Chargers players Detroit Lions players Dallas Cowboys players Cleveland Browns players Denver Broncos players