"Thomas reminds me of Jumpy Geathers"

hagan714 · 05-08-2007, 04:05 PM

3. Finding hidden gems

Just like Bigfoot and the Lochness Monster, the stories going around about Saints undrafted free agent defensive tackle Walter Thomas almost seem too good to be true.

Thomas, a 6-foot-3¼, 370-pound defensive tackle, was one of the most highly recruited defensive lineman in the nation when he came out of Ball High School in Galveston, Texas. While he showed great promise as a freshman for Oklahoma State, his career afterwards has been cloudy, to say the least.

The mammoth inside defensive tackle, who has bench-pressed close to 500 pounds, can do frontward flips and run under five seconds 40-yard dash times, played only two games at Northwest Mississippi Community College in 2006 before getting in trouble with the law and he left the team.

When Thomas showed up for practices in El Paso, Texas, for the Texas versus the Nation All-Star classic in January, he was the “buzz” player amongst the scouts and fellow players there. To be honest, he looked like a senior player going up against the junior-varsity members when he went head-up against the better offensive linemen in the all-star game, but he is still a bit of a mystery football player.

One college coach, who at one time tried to recruit Thomas, says that the Saints just “may” have gotten a gem of a player, if the one-time national recruit takes the NFL serious.

“Walter is an unbelievable physical talent,” said the college coach. “He is a huge man, who is almost impossible to move in the middle. The only guy that I can say Thomas reminds me of is a young Jumpy Geathers (who used to play defensive tackle with the New Orleans Saints). Jumpy didn’t have a lot of moves, but he did something I never saw again until I saw Thomas. He literally would get under the pads of an opponent and just forklift him back into the backfield. Walter collapses the inside pocket just like Jumpy did. What I don’t know about Thomas is how important the NFL is to him. He never did take the game serious in college, but for him to succeed he needs to understand this is a business and he has to work hard to succeed for the first time in his life. He is way too heavy and he needs to lose at least 30 to 40 pounds. Good defensive line techniques will come to him in time, but he better understand that this is the NFL. There’s a maturity, or I might say an immaturity factor, with him that is unknown. He trusts people he really shouldn’t and he has made some bad life decisions. What I do know is when he hits the football field Walter is all man and very focused. I would love to be there the first time Sean Payton sees him in one-on-one encounters.“

If Thomas turns out to be half the player the stories are about him, maybe the football gods are trying to even the score for a long history of bad draft-day memories.

NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland.

http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs....73280439802546

For those who remember Jumpy we all know this is a heck of a satement. Jumpy was the unsung hero of the dome patrol. reading this makes mw want to get the old jersey out of mothballs.

hagan714 · 05-09-2007, 07:23 AM

wow no one else is surprised by this statment? Maybe thats why there were so few Jumpy jerseys sold. The guy was the heart and soul of the Dome Patrol. Get some old tapes out and watch the damage he caused up the middle. He helped send alot of players to the probowl. QBs could hardly ever step up into the pocket to avoid the outside pass rush. 2 or 3 blockers it did not make a difference, he got the push up the middle. 1 on 1 for 4 get it.
Now that was a D line.

05-08-2007, 04:05 PM	#1
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	"Thomas reminds me of Jumpy Geathers" 3. Finding hidden gems Just like Bigfoot and the Lochness Monster, the stories going around about Saints undrafted free agent defensive tackle Walter Thomas almost seem too good to be true. Thomas, a 6-foot-3¼, 370-pound defensive tackle, was one of the most highly recruited defensive lineman in the nation when he came out of Ball High School in Galveston, Texas. While he showed great promise as a freshman for Oklahoma State, his career afterwards has been cloudy, to say the least. The mammoth inside defensive tackle, who has bench-pressed close to 500 pounds, can do frontward flips and run under five seconds 40-yard dash times, played only two games at Northwest Mississippi Community College in 2006 before getting in trouble with the law and he left the team. When Thomas showed up for practices in El Paso, Texas, for the Texas versus the Nation All-Star classic in January, he was the “buzz” player amongst the scouts and fellow players there. To be honest, he looked like a senior player going up against the junior-varsity members when he went head-up against the better offensive linemen in the all-star game, but he is still a bit of a mystery football player. One college coach, who at one time tried to recruit Thomas, says that the Saints just “may” have gotten a gem of a player, if the one-time national recruit takes the NFL serious. “Walter is an unbelievable physical talent,” said the college coach. “He is a huge man, who is almost impossible to move in the middle. The only guy that I can say Thomas reminds me of is a young Jumpy Geathers (who used to play defensive tackle with the New Orleans Saints). Jumpy didn’t have a lot of moves, but he did something I never saw again until I saw Thomas. He literally would get under the pads of an opponent and just forklift him back into the backfield. Walter collapses the inside pocket just like Jumpy did. What I don’t know about Thomas is how important the NFL is to him. He never did take the game serious in college, but for him to succeed he needs to understand this is a business and he has to work hard to succeed for the first time in his life. He is way too heavy and he needs to lose at least 30 to 40 pounds. Good defensive line techniques will come to him in time, but he better understand that this is the NFL. There’s a maturity, or I might say an immaturity factor, with him that is unknown. He trusts people he really shouldn’t and he has made some bad life decisions. What I do know is when he hits the football field Walter is all man and very focused. I would love to be there the first time Sean Payton sees him in one-on-one encounters.“ If Thomas turns out to be half the player the stories are about him, maybe the football gods are trying to even the score for a long history of bad draft-day memories. NFL analyst Mike Detillier is based in Raceland. http://www.houmatoday.com/apps/pbcs....73280439802546 For those who remember Jumpy we all know this is a heck of a satement. Jumpy was the unsung hero of the dome patrol. reading this makes mw want to get the old jersey out of mothballs.
	"We may have lost the game, but you'll be hurting tomorrow." Doug Atkins

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05-09-2007, 07:23 AM	#2
hagan714 LB Mentallity Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 15,870 Blog Entries: 68	wow no one else is surprised by this statment? Maybe thats why there were so few Jumpy jerseys sold. The guy was the heart and soul of the Dome Patrol. Get some old tapes out and watch the damage he caused up the middle. He helped send alot of players to the probowl. QBs could hardly ever step up into the pocket to avoid the outside pass rush. 2 or 3 blockers it did not make a difference, he got the push up the middle. 1 on 1 for 4 get it. Now that was a D line.