Michael Thomas (born March 17, 1990) is an

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 ...

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

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

of 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). 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 ...

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

. He was signed by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

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 ...

in 2012.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Thomas signed with the

as an undrafted free agent on May 4, 2012. He was waived on August 31, and was signed to the practice squad the next day. He spent the whole 2012 season on the practice squad. On February 11, 2013, Thomas signed a reserve/future contract. On August 31, 2013, Thomas was waived by the 49ers and signed to the practice squad two days later.

Miami Dolphins

On December 10, 2013, Thomas was signed by 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 pla ...

off the 49ers' practice squad. He made his professional debut the following week, where he recorded an interception off

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

quarterback

Tom Brady Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...

with two seconds left in the game to seal the Dolphins victory. He also broke up a touchdown pass intended for

Danny Amendola Daniel James Amendola (born November 2, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at Texas Tech. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2008. After spending his entire rookie season ...

before sealing the victory with his interception. After that game, he appeared in two more for the rest of the season. In 2014, Thomas played in eight games with two starts before suffering a torn pectoral in Week 9. He was placed on injured reserve on November 3, 2014. He finished his second season with eighteen tackles. Thomas became a starter for the Dolphins in 2015, starting 13 games at free safety. On December 20, 2015, he made a season-high 11 tackles against 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 ...

. He finished the season with 85 tackles and two passes defended. On September 18, 2016, Thomas recorded his first career sack and forced fumble against the

. On December 4, he grabbed his first career fumble recovery against the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. On December 24, Thomas made a season-high eight tackles and his second career forced fumble (but the Bills recover it) against 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. ...

. On December 29, Thomas was named the 2016 Good Guy Award winner, annually given "to a player for his professionalism and courtesy in assisting the media." Thomas played in all 16 games with eight starts recording 58 tackles, one sack, one pass defended, and two forced fumbles. The Dolphins finished with a record of 10-6 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2008. On January 8, 2017, Thomas in his first career playoff game recorded an interception against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

in the AFC Wild Card round. Along with teammate

Xavien Howard Xavien Howard (born July 4, 1993) is an American football cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Baylor and was drafted in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Dolphins. E ...

, they become the first Dolphins to record interceptions in the playoffs since Calvin Jackson in 2000. On April 17, 2017, Thomas signed his restricted free agent tender with the Dolphins. In 2017, Thomas played in 13 games with two starts before suffering a knee injury in Week 13. He made his first start of the season on November 5, replacing the injured Nate Allen. He was placed on injured reserve on December 29, 2017.

New York Giants

On March 26, 2018, Thomas signed a two-year contract with the

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

. Thomas had a career year with the

on defense and special teams. Thomas notched 59 total tackles, one sack, and two interceptions on defense while getting 16 of his tackles on special teams and recovering an onside kick for the Giants. He was named to the

2019 Pro Bowl The 2019 Pro Bowl was the National Football League's all-star game for the 2018 NFL season, played on January 27, 2019, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. It was televised nationally by ESPN and its sister networks. Game format The 201 ...

as a special teams replacement for

Super Bowl LIII Super Bowl LIII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2018 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New England Patriots defeated the National Football Confe ...

bound

Cory Littleton Cory Littleton (born November 18, 1993) is an American football linebacker for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Washington. He signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agen ...

Houston Texans

On April 28, 2020, Thomas signed a one-year contract 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 ...

. In Week 10, Thomas suffered a season-ending torn pec and was placed on injured reserve on November 21, 2020.

Cincinnati Bengals

On October 5, 2021, Thomas was signed to the

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on November 15. Thomas re-signed with the Bengals on a one-year contract on March 17, 2022. On March 13, 2023, Thomas re-signed with the

on another one-year contract.

Career statistics

Personal life

In 2016, Thomas earned a

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree from the University of Miami Business School.

References

External links

Miami Dolphins bioSan Francisco 49ers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Michael 1990 births Living people African-American players of American football Players of American football from Houston American football safeties American football cornerbacks Stanford Cardinal football players San Francisco 49ers players Miami Dolphins players New York Giants players Houston Texans players Cincinnati Bengals players University of Miami Business School alumni 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people National Conference Pro Bowl players Ed Block Courage Award recipients