NFL Draft Special with Joey Thomas
Just as the sports world came to a lull, we have some new headlines to keep us interested. The Aggie Baseball Team is flirting with making their first trip to Omaha in years, Spring football has wrapped up, the NBA Playoffs are in full blossom, and the NFL Draft is on Saturday. To hold you over until we get to see teams poke and prod over their newest franchise player, we sat down with one of 12th MC's favorite Aggies, Joseph Liam Thomas to talk about his outlook and thoughts going into what could be the biggest day of his life:
JT MONEY #81
1) What are your thoughts going into the NFL Draft? Do you have hopes of getting drafted? Signed as a free agent? JT:This whole experience of getting ready for the draft has been awesome. As soon as last season ended I started preparing myself for a chance to play in the NFL. Things have gotten nothing but more optimistic since. It started out as more of a dream that has now become more of a reality. I have had pro day and a few personal workouts with teams, all of which went well. This past week, I've received phone calls from 7 different teams that all nice things to say and wish me good luck this weekend. I've gotten the notion that I have a chance of being drafted in one of the late rounds and if not, I will definitely be signed as a free agent and have a much appreciated chance to make a team.
2) What did you do to get ready for the draft? Where did you work out? Who did you work out with? JT:My agent, Jordan Woy, sent me to train up in McKinney, Texas to train at the Michael Johnson Performance Center. It was an amazing experience that taught me alot. It was hard not being starstruck the first week. Not only did we have Michael Johnson working with us everyday, two of the guys I was working out with should be first round picks, Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. Dan Campbell, along with some other NFLers, were also there keeping his body in shape. Michael Johnson and Lance Walker, a former Cowboy's strength coach, worked out me and 7 other guys out for about a month and a half, Monday through Saturday. A typical day was 7am to 6pm of mixed workouts.
3)What teams have you met with? Talked to? JT:I've have been in contact with quite a few teams, some of which I talked to personally and some of which my agent has been talking to. The ones that I personally have been talking to the most are Cleveland, Seattle, Indianapolis, New England, and Jaxsonville. Lately, it has been Cleveland that has been giving me the most attention. The thing about them though, is they only have 4 picks in the draft starting in the 4th round. I have had personal workouts with Jaxsonville, New York Jets, and Cleveland.
4)What have they told you about your NFL chances? JT:As I mentioned earlier, I have gotten the feeling that I have a good chance at being drafted in a later round and if not, teams have confirmed that they will offer me a free agent deal. My agent seems to think I have a great chance of getting drafted but I usually take things with a grain of salt. I will be happy with any chance to make a team.
5)How are you spending Saturday? JT:Well, Saturday I will be relaxing in Austin and maybe go out on the lake for a bit. Sunday is when I will start to actually watch the draft and probably get a little more stressed.
6)Out of all of A&M's players in the draft this year, who will be the best pro? Why? JT:It's hard to say because I love all our guys coming out this year, most of whom I've been with for 5 years now. If i had to pick one though, I'd say Martellus, just because of his raw ability and athleticism. If he can get in a good system, he has the potential to really shine.

7)If you don't get drafted, how do you decide between the possible handful of teams that you could sign as a free agent with? JT:What it comes down to for me is where I have to best chance to make a team in the long run. As a free agent you have to ignore the signing bonus amount or any desire to live in a certain place and concentrate on where you would fit in best with your abilities as well as the current depth at your position for any such team.
8)If you could pick the tea to play for, who would it be? JT:I would have to pick the Texans, solely because I am in love with Texas and I have never liked the Cowboys, which you and Plunk know. If I could start an NFL team in Austin I would. The hill country is my favorite place in the US.
9)Who would make a better NFL agent, JLOU or PLUNK? JT:J Lou, no offense but Plunk is in law school so I'm going to have to go with Plunk. Plus you and I would be too distracted by having fun. I would trust Plunk more because he is a bigger dork.
10)How did you workouts help/hurt your NFL stock? JT:I performed pretty well in Pro Day which I think helped me alot. I was able to show my athleticism and really drew alot of scouts and coaches attention. Things got exponentially better since my Pro Day.
11)Can I have tickets to your first NFL game? JT: If you tell me where my taser went.
For the record, JLou has no idea as to the whereabouts of Joey's taser, and if he did would still refuse to share them with JT solely out of fear that he may get shocked yet again when JT's ADD kicks in
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Nice
You can't possibly be a bigger dork than Plunk, so I'd say Joey made a good choice there.
If A&M makes it to Omaha, y'all better join me up there. It's a great time.
by TB on Apr 25, 2008 5:42 PM CDT 0 recs
can I have tickets to your first game?
good stuff. I'm so excited to be able to be excited about aggie football during the draft instead of just pissed off
by carsondude on Apr 26, 2008 10:16 AM CDT 0 recs
The famous taser
Here's to Sunday being the best day of JT's life!
by Plunk on
Apr 26, 2008 11:17 AM CDT
up
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