Phillip Thomas (born March 1, 1989) 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 wi ...

safety Safety is the state of being "safe", the condition of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings There are two slightly dif ...

. He played college football at

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bachelo ...

, and was selected by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

in the fourth round of the

2013 NFL Draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall ...

Early years

Thomas was born in Bakersfield, California. He attended

Bakersfield High School Bakersfield High School (BHS) is a public four-year high school located in Bakersfield, California, United States. Opened in 1893, Bakersfield High School serves grades ninth through twelfth within the Kern High School District. Notable alumni ...

, and 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 ...

for the Bakersfield Drillers.

College career

Thomas attended

California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...

, where he played for the Fresno State Bulldogs football team from 2008 to 2012. As a senior in 2012, he was named an All-American by the

American Football Coaches Association The American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) is an association of over 11,000 American football coaches and staff on all levels. According to its constitution, some of the main goals of the American Football Coaches Association are to "mainta ...

(AFCA) and

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. He was also a finalist for the

Jim Thorpe Award The Jim Thorpe Award, named in memory of multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe, has been awarded to the top defensive back in college football since 1986. It is voted on by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, the award became sponsored by Payco ...

. He was named to the

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

All-America team and winner of the 2012 CFPA Defensive Back Trophy. He became the first

unanimous All-American The College Football All-America Team is an honorific college football all-star team compiled after each NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) season to recognize that season's most outstanding performers at their respective positions. ...

in Fresno State history when he was named to the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

All-America team.

Professional career

2013 NFL Combine

Washington Redskins

Thomas was selected by the

in the fourth round, with the 119th overall pick, of the

. He officially signed a four-year contract with the team on May 17, 2013. In the first preseason game against the

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

, he suffered a left foot injury, which was originally diagnosed as a sprain. On August 13, it was announced that Thomas would miss the entire 2013 season and be placed on injured reserve due to a torn Lisfranc ligament. Battling hamstring and foot injuries in the preseason, the Redskins waived him on August 30, 2014 for final roster cuts before the start of the 2014 season. After clearing waivers, he was signed to the team's practice squad the following day. He was promoted to the active roster on November 1, 2014. He was waived on August 5, 2015.

Miami Dolphins

Thomas signed with the

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

on August 10, 2015. On August 30, 2015, he was waived.

Buffalo Bills

On December 30, 2015, the Buffalo Bills signed Thomas to their practice squad. On January 4, 2016, he signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

with the Bills. On June 17, 2016, he was waived. On June 20, 2016, the Bills placed Thomas on injured reserve after clearing waivers. On March 6, 2017, Thomas was released by the Bills.

Personal life

His older brother was featured in a Frontline documentary
Stickup Kid

References

External links

Washington Redskins bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Phillip 1989 births Living people All-American college football players American football safeties Fresno State Bulldogs football players Washington Redskins players Miami Dolphins players Buffalo Bills players Players of American football from Bakersfield, California Bakersfield High School alumni