Michael Thomas (born June 4, 1987) 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 ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth 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 ...

. 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 ...

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Early years

Thomas attended DeSoto High School in

DeSoto, Texas DeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. DeSoto is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, and Lancaster. History The area was first settled in 1847, ...

. As a senior, he had 15 receptions for 205 yards as a receiver and 333 yards on 26 carries as a

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 ...

College career

Thomas attended the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

from 2005 to 2008. While there he started 39 of 48 games and set the school and

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

record for receptions with 259 for 3,231 yards and 23

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether Rush (gridiron football), running, Forward pass, passing, returning a Kickoff (gridiron football), kickoff or Punt (gridiron football), punt, or recovering a Turno ...

Professional career

2009 NFL Draft

Jacksonville Jaguars

Thomas was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round of the

. As a rookie, he started four of the 14 games in which he played, and had 48 receptions for 453 yards and a touchdown. His 48 receptions were tied with Michael Crabtree for fourth among all rookies. A key play of his career was in a 2010 Week 10 game against the Texans. With just 3 seconds remaining in regulation and the game tied at 24, QB David Garrard launched a "Hail Mary" pass from the 50-yard line intended for

Mike Sims-Walker Michael Anthony Sims-Walker (born Michael Anthony Walker on November 21, 1984) is a former American football wide receiver. He most recently played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Jacksonville ...

. The ball was batted down at the goal line by Texans DB

Glover Quin Glover Freeman Quin Jr. (; born January 15, 1986) is a former American football safety. He played college football at New Mexico and Southwest Mississippi Community College, and was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2009 N ...

, and then hit Thomas in the chest. Thomas was able to grab the ball next to his left knee before it hit the ground, and he took a step forward into the end zone for the game-winning touchdown. On October 30, 2012, Thomas was traded to 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 ...

for a 2014 fifth round draft pick.

Detroit Lions

Thomas was cut by the Lions on August 19, 2013.

Arizona Cardinals

On August 20, 2013, Thomas was signed by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

. He was released on August 30, 2013.

Houston Texans

Thomas signed with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

on December 30, 2013. On August 31, 2014, Thomas was released.

Toronto Argonauts

Thomas was signed by the Toronto Argonauts on November 21, 2014. He was released by the Argonauts on May 13, 2015.

References

External links

Jacksonville Jaguars BioToronto Argonauts bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Mike 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Bossier City, Louisiana People from DeSoto, Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Players of American football from Louisiana Players of American football from Texas American football wide receivers Arizona Wildcats football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Detroit Lions players Arizona Cardinals players Houston Texans players