Walter Thomas

[Cbus cardsfan]

did anyone pick up that big dude? He'd be worth bringing in for a look as an UDFA. His size/speed alone makes him worth the gamble.

 

[asuhoopnut]

For N.F.L. Draft, the Biggest (XXXXXXL) Sleeper

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Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times
Walter Thomas, a 370-pound tackle, can do flips and cartwheels.

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Jessica Kourkounis for The New York Times;
Walter Thomas, 21, can bench-press 475 pounds and squat 800.



When he lands, the ground trembles.
The player’s name is Walter Thomas, and as he kicked his size 16 feet overhead Saturday morning, onlookers studied the sculpted giant with curiosity and awe. It was the kind of reaction Thomas usually elicits from professional football scouts.
“I feel like I’m a big secret,” Thomas said. “The secret of the draft.”
The National Football League draft, which begins Saturday, does not really have secrets anymore. Prospects are timed and tested, interviewed and investigated, over and over again. Entire dossiers are prepared for second-string players.
Thomas is as close as modern football can come to an old-fashioned sleeper. In the past two years, his only playing experience was at Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia, Miss. He played in two games, both losses. Then he was arrested on a charge of conspiracy to commit robbery, according to the Tate County (Miss.) Circuit Clerk’s office, and never played college football again.
Judging by his credentials, perhaps Thomas should not be drafted. Judging by his dimensions, however, Thomas has to be drafted.
Big Walt, as he is known, is a 6-foot-5 defensive tackle who wears a size XXXXXXL jersey. He bench presses 475 pounds and squats 800 pounds. Weight lifters at the Galveston Health and Racquet Club stop their workouts to watch him.
Football teams everywhere are filled with big men, but many of them can barely move. Thomas has run the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds, faster than some N.F.L. tight ends. He is the rare tackle who can catch a running back from behind.
“The guy is a dadgum Russian gymnast,” said Randy Pippin, the head coach at Northwest Mississippi.
Thomas’s flexibility has become part of his lore. He does handstands and handsprings, broad jumps and cartwheels. When he gets excited, he will do a back flip.
“I never thought a body that big could flip in the air,” said Ron Holmes, who coached Thomas at Ball High School in Galveston. “I wouldn’t have believed it unless I’d seen it with my own two eyes.”
Three months ago, Thomas was little more than a novelty act. He declared for the draft as a 21-year-old junior, but unlike most underclassmen heading to the N.F.L., he had no highlight reel to send scouts and few statistics for them to analyze. The Web site nfldraftscout.com ranked him as the 74th-best defensive tackle.
“It was a different situation,” said Martin Magid, Thomas’s agent. “He was coming from the basement.”
Magid, who represents several professional football players, lobbied for Thomas to be included in a predraft all-star game called Texas vs. The Nation. When the workouts for that game began, Thomas was an afterthought. When they ended, he was an Internet phenomenon.
Draftniks found a new darling. Bloggers were breathless. Draftdaddy.com reported that Thomas was “unstoppable” and “nimble” and “drew reactions ranging from gasps to smiles to a simple shake of the head in disbelief.”
In the draft evaluation process, workouts are nearly as important as games, and Thomas is a workout wonder. He was invited to Mississippi State’s annual Pro Day and seized much of the attention, even though he did not attend Mississippi State.
N.F.L. scouts, always on the lookout for that unique blend of size and agility, were seduced by a dancing goliath. This month, Thomas was ranked as the 15th-best defensive tackle in the draft. He hopes to pattern himself after the N.F.L. tackles Ted Washington (6-5, 365 pounds) of the Cleveland Browns and Jamal Williams (6-3, 348) of the San Diego Chargers.
“He is definitely a topic of conversation right now,” said Gil Brandt, former vice president for player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, who is now an analyst for NFL.com. “A lot of people are talking about him.”
Thomas represents the hard choice that every team faces at some point on draft day — to pick a player with supreme physical ability and a questionable past, or to go with a player who has limited talent but a proven track record.
Thomas would not be such a secret in the draft if he had not buried himself in college. He played at Oklahoma State as a freshman in 2004, but failed out of school before his sophomore season. He spent 2005 trying to regain his academic eligibility and went to Northwest Mississippi in 2006.
“People like to tell me, ‘As big as you are, you’ll always get another chance,’ ” Thomas said. “But I think I’ve used up all my chances.”
Thomas acts contrite and gentle, but his behavior can still be erratic. An interview for this story was scheduled for Friday morning in Galveston. Thomas arrived early Saturday, apologizing profusely that he confused the dates.
Thomas was accompanied by Martha Overton, a 54-year-old whom he calls his second mother. Thomas went to school with Overton’s daughter, Elizabeth, and steadily ingratiated himself in her family. Now, he appears in all of their Christmas pictures. When he leaves Martha Overton’s sight, he gives her two bearhugs.
“Walter has a lot of people who care for him very deeply,” Martha Overton said.
Thomas needs the support system, especially in the new N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced a personal-conduct policy that threatens teams for repeatedly signing troublemakers. When Thomas visited the Jets, the Dolphins and the Browns, they grilled him about his arrest, he said.

 

[Mulli]

That looks like what happened to at least one of the Cards' lineman on just about every running play last year.

 

[MemphisRam]

No More "Sleepers"

Years ago, drafts were filled with sleepers -- virtual unknowns who would go from obscurity to the league. I was convinced this was a thing of the past. Workouts are too public. There are too many blogs. Too many draftniks. That's why I couldn't believe it when I read Lee Jenkins' article in the New York Times about Walter Thomas, the 370-pound defensive tackle who could do back flips, and -- get this -- run a 4.9 40-yard dash. Thomas, Jenkins wrote, had a college career of two games before he was charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, which halted his short career. The article was filled with glowing quotes and said that, in recent times, Thomas had gone from the 74th best defensive tackle in the draft, according to one site, to as high as No. 15 at his position.

This was an incredible story. A guy who I had never heard of, who had this great story, who -- according to Jenkins -- "had to be drafted." But after -- at least according to ESPN.com's DraftTracker -- 18 defensive tackles were taken, teams had obviously filled their need for the position and Thomas wasn't a part of that.

I wonder how much Roger Goodell's new code of conduct fit into the fact that he was not drafted or was it simply the fact that this story was just a good story and not necessarily based in reality. It will be interesting to see if a team signs him as a free agent.

 

[Kolo]

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I never tried a one-handed keg stand.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Bad year to have character issues ...

 

[WildBB]

What the heck is there to lose.

 

[pinnacle]

http://www.saintsreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28565

some guy on the saints board thinks he figured out that he is going to be a saint..he found his profile on their website...but it has not been confirmed...

FYI.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

What the heck is there to lose.

A draft pick.

 

[Pariah]

A draft pick.

Not anymore.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Not anymore.

huh? Did Roger Goodell recant on the player misconduct will cost you a draft pick stance? I didn't hear that.

edit. I get what you are saying.

 

[Pariah]

huh? Did Roger Goodell recant on the player misconduct will cost you a draft pick stance? I didn't hear that.

edit. I get what you are saying.

You don't give up a draft pick if your UDFA doesn't work out. He is an UDFA, thus, a team would not be risking a draft pick.

EDIT: And now I see what you're saying now, too. I didn't read past "huh?".

 

[vinnymac]

Bring the man in and give him a try-out. Put him on the practice squad for a couple of years to see if he can stay out of trouble. If he can't then you havn't wasted a bunch of money or time on the guy. He sounds like he worth the chance anyway.

 

[asuhoopnut]

Thomas did sign with New Orleans

 

[TheCardFan]

http://www.neworleansprofootball.com/051207thomas.html

Thomas lasted only 15 minutes and was cut after the first practice.

 

[Mulli]

http://www.neworleansprofootball.com/051207thomas.html

Thomas lasted only 15 minutes and was cut after the first practice.

That is only about 14 minutes more than I would have lasted.

 

[Shogun]

http://www.neworleansprofootball.com/051207thomas.html

Thomas lasted only 15 minutes and was cut after the first practice.

 

[kerouac9]

So much for the next Eric Swann. I guess you actually have to know how to play football to make it in the NFL...

 

[vinnymac]

Was he helped off the field or escorted off the field.

 

[nurnay]

LOL... OK, I feel bad for the guy, he was talked up quite a bit. Still, pretty funny. Was he injured? If so, maybe he still has a shot with someone like Oakland.

 

[vinnymac]

A man that size will get another shot somewhere. Even if its arena or canadian league.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Big gamble on defensive end doesn't pay off

Saints quickly cut out-of-shape Thomas

Monday, May 14, 2007
By Benjamin Hochman

Walter Thomas' Saints career ended almost as soon as it began.

Just 12 minutes into Thomas' first minicamp, Saints coaches sent the rookie free agent to the training room. Coach Sean Payton then decided that the 6-foot-5, 375-pound defensive linemen was unfit to participate in camp.

"It was a situation where, from a conditioning standpoint, he had a long way to go," Payton said. "He struggled."

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Every spring, the Saints sign rookies who've gone undrafted, but few arrive with the hoopla and mystery surrounding Thomas.

Signed by Coach Les Miles at Oklahoma State in 2004, Thomas flunked out as a freshman and ended up at Northwest Mississippi Community College.

He sat out 2005 and in 2006 played in two games, totaling 16 tackles. He was arrested and dismissed from the team, pending criminal charges. So he decided to take a shot at the NFL.

The Saints took a chance on Thomas, who can run the 40-yard dash in less than five seconds and can do back flips with ease.

According to Thomas' agent, Martin Magid, Thomas said his head hurt during the drills, but he still was able to compete. When trainers told him he appeared dehydrated and gave him intravenous fluids, Thomas still felt confident he could return to the field.

"He was a free agent we signed after the draft, and you have no way of measuring where he's at from a conditioning standpoint," Payton said. "So, you're somewhat guarded with everyone."

Magid said he was puzzled that the team cut Thomas so quickly.
"It doesn't add up," he said. "He's worked out for the team. He's been a football player his whole life."

Magid said three other NFL teams had expressed interest in Thomas, and the agent thought his client could get in shape for his next look-see.

"We'll talk to the teams, tell them Walter's side of what happened and move on," Magid said. "He wants to prove himself to the Saints and the football world. I'm not going to stop believing in the kid."

http://www.nola.com/saints/t-p/index.ssf?/base/sports-3/1179120084203970.xml&coll=1

 

[Ryanwb]

That is only about 14 minutes more than I would have lasted.

this is a family forum

 

[nurnay]

"It was a situation where, from a conditioning standpoint, he had a long way to go," Payton said. "He struggled."

Wow, not a very bright guy. It's one thing for an established veteran that has a starting spot coming into camp out of shape, but an undrafted rookie? I think this speaks volumes about the type of person he is.

 

[Mulli]

this is a family forum

Mods!!!