No. 23, 32, 39 | |||||||||||||
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Position: | Running back | ||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||
Born: | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | December 18, 1984||||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) | ||||||||||||
Weight: | 210 lb (95 kg) | ||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||
High school: | T. F. South (Lansing, Illinois) | ||||||||||||
College: | Illinois (2003–2006) | ||||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2007 | ||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com |
Charles Pierre Thomas Jr. (born December 18, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Illinois Fighting Illini. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2007. Thomas developed into an all-around threat as a runner, pass catcher, blocker, and special teams player. He led the Saints in rushing yards in 2008 and 2009 and again in 2013, when he also led all NFL running backs in receiving yards. He became known for his excellence in executing the screen pass; [1] [2] it was a screen pass on which he scored the Saints' first touchdown in their 31–17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, two weeks after he had scored two touchdowns in the Saints' 2009 NFC Championship game victory. [3]
Thomas played high school football at Thornton Fractional South High School in Lansing, Illinois, where he ran for 5,565 yards and 88 touchdowns in his career. He was twice named to the all-state teams of the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times and as a senior he was player of the year for the Champaign News-Gazette. [4] Some of his self-taught practice for high school football included running up a steep hill with a backpack full of books on and pushing cars around. [5]
He was recruited by the University of Illinois. [6] He led the team in rushing for three seasons. In 40 games he ran for 2,545 yards (6th all-time in Illinois history) and 20 touchdowns, had 57 catches for 411 yards and 3 touchdowns, and a total of 4,451 all-purpose yards (then second all-time at Illinois). [4] Nevertheless, he was not invited to the NFL combine, and ultimately he was not selected in the 2007 NFL Draft. [3]
Year | GP–GS | Rushing | Receiving | Kick Returns | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Att | Yards | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G | Rec | Rec–Yards | Avg | TD | Long | Avg/G | No. | Yards | Avg | TD | Long | ||||
2003 [7] | 6–0 | 43 | 233 | 5.4 | 2 | 35 | 38.8 | 3 | 12 | 4.0 | 0 | 8 | 2.0 | 7 | 134 | 19.1 | 0 | 29 | ||
2004 [8] | 11–11 | 152 | 893 | 5.9 | 8 | 69 | 81.2 | 14 | 95 | 6.8 | 1 | 34 | 8.6 | 25 | 677 | 27.1 | 1 | 99 | ||
2005 [9] | 11–11 | 121 | 664 | 5.2 | 5 | 35 | 60.4 | 28 | 225 | 8.0 | 1 | 52 | 20.5 | 20 | 461 | 23.0 | 0 | 48 | ||
2006 [10] | 12-11 | 131 | 755 | 5.8 | 5 | 62 | 62.9 | 12 | 79 | 6.6 | 1 | 23 | 6.6 | 7 | 223 | 44.6 | 0 | 75 | ||
Career | 40-33 | 453 | 2,545 | 5.6 | 20 | 69 | 63.6 | 57 | 411 | 7.2 | 3 | 52 | 10.8 | 59 | 1495 | 25.3 | 1 | 99 |
Thomas signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent, on the recommendation of special teams coach Greg McMahon, who had previously been an assistant at Illinois. [3] He was impressive in preseason games and the Saints ultimately decided to keep him while releasing the running back they had chosen with their fourth round draft pick, Antonio Pittman.
He signed a new four-year contract before the 2011 season, [3] and in March 2014 he signed a two-year contract extension, ending widely reported speculation that he might be released due to team salary cap problems. [11]
On March 4, 2015, the Saints released Thomas, making him a free agent.
Thomas's rookie year saw him buried on the depth chart behind Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister, and Aaron Stecker, only logging 79 touches all year. [12] During Week 2, Thomas turned only the second touch from scrimmage of his NFL career into a 24-yard touchdown against the Saints’ longtime rival, the Atlanta Falcons. [12] However, it was not until Week 17 against the Chicago Bears that the NFL world first witnessed the kind of production Thomas would display over the course of his NFL career. In a game that saw notable Saints’ players Bush, McAllister, Marques Colston, and Terrance Copper all sit or leave the game with injuries, [13] Thomas was afforded the opportunity to touch the ball on 32 of the 83 offensive plays. He finished the game with 226 yards from scrimmage and the second touchdown of his career. [14]
After once again starting the season buried on the depth chart, a mid-season injury to Reggie Bush gave Pierre Thomas the lead-back opportunity on the NFL's highest scoring offense. [15] During Weeks 11–16, Thomas averaged 112.8 scrimmage yards per game as the Saints went 4–2. [16] He scored at least one touchdown in all six games, including two-touchdown performances in three of them.
After losing the majority of Week 1 to injury, Thomas got his first full-game action of the season going in Week 2 with a rushing performance that would end up as the best of his entire 9-year career. Thomas ran for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns on just 14 carries in a dominant 27–7 victory over the Buffalo Bills. [17] Thomas only received more than 14 carries once more all season, but at 5.89 scrimmage yards per touch, he served as an efficient Saints’ contributor during their 13–0 start to the season. In the NFC Championship Game against the Minnesota Vikings, Thomas contributed 99 yards and 2 touchdowns in a narrow 31–28 overtime win that sent the Saints to Super Bowl XLIV. [17] He produced another 85 yards and the Saints first touchdown of the game on his famous screen pass [18] to help put the Saints in position to beat the Indianapolis Colts with a score of 31–17. This win marked the first championship in New Orleans Saints history, capping off an impressive 16–3 season and Thomas's career best 1,095 yards from scrimmage. [17]
After losing all but 6 games of the 2010 season due to ankle injuries, [19] Pierre Thomas bounced back in 2011 with another productive season for the 13-3 Saints. He only had two games all season with over 100 yards from scrimmage, however he still finished with 987 yards on 6.17 yards per touch. After totaling 121 yards in the NFC Wildcard Round against the Detroit Lions, Thomas's season ended earlier than expected against the San Francisco 49ers. In the NFC Divisional Round, he took a shot to the head on the 1-yard line that resulted in a concussion. [20] The Saints lost the game 32-36 and Thomas did not see the field again until the 2012 season.
Thomas is best remembered for the Monday Night Game against Atlanta on December 26, 2011, when he placed a Christmas bow on a football then gave it to a fan as a Christmas present during a touchdown, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. The next day, he was fined $7,500 and an additional $5,000 for wearing red and green tape, a violation of the league's uniform policy.
On November 3, 2015, Thomas was signed by the San Francisco 49ers. [21] He was cut by the 49ers on November 10, 2015, after only playing one game against the Atlanta Falcons. [22]
On December 11, 2015, Thomas was signed by the Washington Redskins. [23]
Legend | |
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Bold | Career high |
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
2007 | NOR | 12 | 1 | 52 | 252 | 4.8 | 24 | 1 | 17 | 151 | 8.9 | 17 | 1 |
2008 | NOR | 15 | 5 | 129 | 625 | 4.8 | 42 | 9 | 31 | 284 | 9.2 | 24 | 3 |
2009 | NOR | 14 | 6 | 147 | 793 | 5.4 | 34 | 6 | 39 | 302 | 7.7 | 36 | 2 |
2010 | NOR | 6 | 3 | 83 | 269 | 3.2 | 16 | 2 | 29 | 201 | 6.9 | 23 | 0 |
2011 | NOR | 16 | 7 | 110 | 562 | 5.1 | 33 | 5 | 50 | 425 | 8.5 | 57 | 1 |
2012 | NOR | 15 | 4 | 105 | 473 | 4.5 | 48 | 1 | 39 | 354 | 9.1 | 36 | 1 |
2013 | NOR | 16 | 9 | 147 | 549 | 3.7 | 18 | 2 | 77 | 513 | 6.7 | 29 | 3 |
2014 | NOR | 11 | 3 | 45 | 222 | 4.9 | 27 | 2 | 45 | 378 | 8.4 | 39 | 1 |
2015 | SFO | 1 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 3.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
WAS | 4 | 0 | 11 | 52 | 4.7 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 84 | 9.3 | 15 | 0 | |
110 | 38 | 833 | 3,809 | 4.6 | 48 | 28 | 336 | 2,692 | 8.0 | 57 | 12 |
Year | Team | Games | Rushing | Receiving | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | GS | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
2009 | NOR | 3 | 2 | 36 | 143 | 4.0 | 12 | 1 | 12 | 111 | 9.3 | 38 | 2 |
2011 | NOR | 2 | 1 | 9 | 72 | 8.0 | 31 | 1 | 7 | 60 | 8.6 | 14 | 0 |
2015 | WAS | 1 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1.8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
6 | 3 | 49 | 222 | 4.5 | 31 | 2 | 19 | 171 | 9.0 | 38 | 2 |
Thomas was born on Chicago's South Side, the son of Charles and Greta Thomas. His parents divorced a few years later and Greta moved with her children to Lynwood, Illinois, where she worked for the United States Postal Service. [24] [25] [26]
In 2013, Thomas was the Saints' team nominee for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award in acknowledgment of his extensive charitable activities, including his iCan Foundation, which fights childhood obesity. [27]
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South Division. Since 1975, the team plays its home games at Caesars Superdome after using Tulane Stadium during its first eight seasons. Founded by John W. Mecom Jr., David Dixon, and the city of New Orleans on November 1, 1966, the Saints joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1967.
Super Bowl XXIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 1989 season. The game was played on January 28, 1990, at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The 49ers defeated the Broncos by the score of 55–10, winning their second consecutive Super Bowl, and then-tying the Pittsburgh Steelers with four Super Bowl victories. San Francisco also became the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls with two different head coaches; rookie head coach George Seifert took over after Bill Walsh retired following the previous season's Super Bowl.
Jerry Lee Rice is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He won three Super Bowl titles with the San Francisco 49ers before two shorter stints at the end of his career with the Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. Nicknamed "World" because of his superb catching ability, his accomplishments and numerous records, Rice is widely regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in NFL history. His biography on the official Pro Football Hall of Fame website names him "the most prolific wide receiver in NFL history with staggering career totals". In 1999, The Sporting News listed Rice second behind Jim Brown on its list of "Football's 100 Greatest Players". In 2010, he was chosen by NFL Network's NFL Films production The Top 100: NFL's Greatest Players as the greatest player in NFL history.
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The 1989 season was the San Francisco 49ers' 40th in the National Football League (NFL), their 44th overall and their 1st season under head coach George Seifert. After going 14–2 in the regular season, the 49ers completed the season with one of the most dominant playoff runs of all time, outscoring opponents 126–26, earning their fourth Super Bowl victory and their second consecutive, where they defeated the Broncos, 55–10. They finished with the best record in the NFL for the first time since 1987. Their two losses were by a combined 5 points.
The 2008 season was the New Orleans Saints' 42nd in the National Football League (NFL), their 33rd playing home games at the Louisiana Superdome and their third under head coach Sean Payton. The Saints improved on their 7–9 record from the 2007 season with an 8-8 record, however, they would miss the playoffs for the second consecutive season. This was the only season under Drew Brees that they finished last in the division. Despite this, Brees became just the second quarterback to throw for over 5,000 passing yards and won the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.
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