Lavale Alvin Thomas (born December 12, 1963) 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 ...

. 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 ...

for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

and later had stints with the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

and

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. He appeared in two

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) games, both for the Packers, with one being as a replacement player during the

1987 NFL strike The National Football League Players Association, or NFLPA, is a labor union representing National Football League (NFL) players. The NFLPA, which has headquarters in Washington, D.C., is led by president J. C. Tretter and executive director DeM ...

and the other being in the 1988 season.

Early life

Thomas was born on December 12, 1963, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He was a second cousin of

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 ...

and

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 ...

player

Jewerl Thomas Jewerl Thomas is a former professional American football player who played running back for five seasons for the Los Angeles Rams, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team th ...

. He was a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in high school; he first attended

Jonesboro-Hodge High School Jonesboro-Hodge High School is a high school located in Jonesboro in Jackson Parish, Louisiana. The school mascot is the Tiger, named after LSU. The colors are scarlet and royal blue. The school, a part of the Jackson Parish School Board, serve ...

in Jonesboro, Louisiana, playing one season in football as a center and helping them reach the state finals. Afterwards, he moved to Tulare, California, and attended

Tulare Western High School Tulare Western High School () is a public high school in Tulare, California, United States. Tulare Western's current enrollment is close to 2,100, making it the largest of the three Tulare high schools. The school is part of the Tulare Joint Uni ...

; he was the first of two of their alumni to ever make it to the NFL. Thomas played both

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

and

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 ...

at Tulare Western and was selected all-conference at the former. He then moved to

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 ...

as a junior and was honorable mention all-conference. He returned to playing running back as a

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

and was one of the top players at his position in the area, setting the all-time Tulare prep record with 1,479 rushing yards. He was first-team All-

East Yosemite League The East Yosemite League is a high school athletic league that is part of the CIF Central Section. Members * Porterville High School * Redwood High School (Visalia) * Monache High School * El Diamante High School El Diamante High School, know ...

(EYL) for his performance and played in the Tulare–Kings All-Star Game.

College career

Thomas was recruited by several major

teams but choose to stay close to home and play for the

. He lettered as a true

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

in 1982. That season, he played 11 games and was one of the team's top backs. He ran for 264 yards and averaged 4.6 yards-per-carry with three rushing

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s despite being limited due to injury. He was again limited by injury in 1983, but still managed to be the Bulldogs' third-leading runner with 233 yards off 51 carries (a 4.6 average) and a touchdown as they went 6–5. Thomas was set to be Fresno State's leading rusher in 1984, compiling 190 rushing yards and two touchdowns in four games before suffering a season-ending injury. When he returned for his senior season in 1985, he had to play behind James Williams and Kelly Skipper; he ended the year with 356 rushing yards on 55 carries with a touchdown, averaging 6.5 yards-per-carry. He ended his collegiate career with 210 carries for 1,043 yards (a 5.0 average) with seven rushing touchdowns, additionally tallying 27 receptions for 272 yards and another score.

Professional career

After going unselected in the

1986 NFL draft The 1986 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 29–30, 1986, at the Marriott Marq ...

, Thomas was signed by the

as an

undrafted 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 ...

. He was released on August 18. After spending the rest of the 1986 season out of football, he signed a contract with the

on April 28, 1987. He was released by the Packers on September 7, 1987. He was brought back to the team later that month as a replacement player when the National Football League Players Association went on strike. He made his NFL debut against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in Week 4, recording five rushes for 19 yards and two receptions for 52 yards and a touchdown. He appeared in no other strike games and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

in mid-October. On August 22, 1988, he was placed on injured reserve again with a knee injury. Thomas was activated from injured reserve on December 16 and played in the team's Week 16 game against the Phoenix Cardinals, recording no statistics. He was released on July 19, 1989, ending his professional career.

Later life

Thomas later served as the CEO and president of the Sports Education Marketing program, a business designed to improve recruiting. He became in 2012 one of many players to sue the NFL for

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentration, ...

-related injuries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Lavale 1963 births Living people Players of American football from Los Angeles Kansas City Chiefs players Green Bay Packers players American football running backs Fresno State Bulldogs football players