MEET Joe Thomas Sr., the oldest player to compete in an NCAA Division I football game.
Thomas, who is 55 years old, has a son, Joe Jr., who plays linebacker for the Green Bay Packers in the National Football League (NFL). Joe Jr. played for South Carolina State from 2010-2013. Thomas Sr. is about 30 years older than most of his teammates. Thomas’s story is one of not giving up, same story as Rudy Ruettiger, who overcame dyslexia and the lack of height and athletic ability to play college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.
According to ESPN’s college football website quotes Thomas Sr. “I always said, ‘Never give up on your dreams. Keep driving forward and don’t listen to other people.’ It’s a great day for me, but I must admit, I didn’t think my situation would generate so much attention and so much positive response.” Like Thomas Sr. and Ruettiger, Tyrone “Mugsy” Bogues, at five-foot-three the shortest player ever in National Basketball Association (NBA) history; Anthony “Spud” Webb, at five-foot-seven the shortest player to have ever won the slam dunk contest. You have five-foot-nine Nate Robinson who also won the slam dunk contest and you then these days…there is five-foot-nine Isiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics, one of the top point guards of the NBA.
These guys never took NO for answer. They were relentless and they never held back. Quoting Sports Illustrated’s college football website “Thomas was raised in Blackville, South Carolina, a small town about 40 minutes from Orangeburg, where South Carolina State’s campus is located. Throughout his childhood, Thomas was partially deaf, but a doctor helped him clear his ears when he was 17. During his junior and senior seasons at Blackville High School, he was a star defensive lineman and a promising running back. But he did not get the opportunity to play college football.
When Thomas’ son, Joe Thomas Jr.—who now plays for the Green Bay Packers—enrolled at South Carolina State, Thomas Sr. decided to join him in the classroom and on the football field. Although he never had the opportunity to play in a game with his son, Thomas Sr. stuck with the football team with the hopes of getting in a game. On Saturday, he accomplished that goal.”
There was a plan for both father and son to play together but fate seemed to always deal them a not so good hand “Thomas’s son, Joe Jr., played for South Carolina State, and the original plan was for father and son to play on the field together. But Joe Sr. was in a car crash during the 2013 season and suffered a knee injury. After that season, Joe Jr. went to the Green Bay Packers.”
Thomas Sr. is a living testament of resiliency and beating the odds stacked against him. I guess you can’t teach an old dog new tricks and you also can’t teach them to give up. Thomas Sr. was never a doubting Thomas.
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THE De La Salle University Green Archers took one step closer to college basketball immortality and reaching the summit of the mountain that is the University Athletic Association of the Philippines with a heart stopping and nerve-wracking 67-65 win over rival Ateneo to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three affair last Saturday. Expect both teams (fans, supporters and alumni) to go all out tomorrow as Ateneo tries to keep their season alive and La Salle tries to win Its 11th UAAP men’s basketball title since joining the league in 1986.