blacksaint

Profile: Thomas Taking New Approach To Career

Zach Buchanan
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
August 3, 2007

Thomas is competing for a spot behind Terence Newman, Anthony Henry and Aaron Glenn.


SAN ANTONIO - Cowboys cornerback Joey Thomas has "Faith" tattooed on the back of his right hand, and according to him, if it wasn't for that word, he wouldn't be where he is today.

Before coming to the Cowboys, Thomas' career was a rollercoaster ride. Thomas was drafted 70th overall in 2004 by the Packers and had a good year by rookie standards, playing in 15 games and recording 15 tackles. His good fortune continued into the 2005 season when he started for the first time against Cleveland.

But that luck would run out. In November of 2005 the Packers waived Thomas and he was immediately picked up by New Orleans, where he only recorded one special teams tackle. The Saints kept him until midway through the 2006 preseason, when he was released. He didn't play football for the entire year.

But now Thomas is back, with a brand new view of things.

"Now I have God in my life, so things are different for me," Thomas said here at training camp, where the former fourth-round pick is battling for a backup job behind Terence Newman, Anthony Henry and Aaron Glenn. "My priorities are different, my approach is different, my outlook on life is different. I'm a new man."

When Thomas was cut from the Saints, he moved to San Antonio to work out with some close friends. It was those friends that gave him a Bible, took him to church. It was those friends that coaxed him into his current relationship with God, and to Thomas, they made all the difference.

"They're the ones that got me on the right track as far as trying to become a better person, trying to become a better man, a better individual," Thomas said.

So who was he before?

Thomas didn't have any off-the-field issues. No alleged dogfighting. He didn't "make it rain."

Thomas is living proof that you don't need a checkered past to have a spiritual transformation.

"As a young man, you don't always want to believe that you're not in control," Thomas said of his mindset before God entered his life. "For me, it was just taking my bumps and my bruises, and learning along the way and just giving it to God, surrendering myself, and just going from there."

Like anyone out there, Thomas still makes mistakes, but says he has changed how he handles and learns from them.

So when the Cowboys called him in the off-season for a workout, he went in with a new mindset. The Cowboys liked what they saw, and now Thomas is vying for a backup cornerback spot with veterans Jacques Reeves and Nate Jones, first-year veteran Quincy Butler and the Cowboys' 2007 seventh-round pick, Alan Ball.

Thomas made an impression early in camp with tight coverage on Terry Glenn and Terrell Owens. But with such stiff competition to play corner for "God's Cowboys," Thomas is covering all his bases by improving his special teams skills.

"I'm going to do a little bit of this, a little bit of that," Thomas said. "Whatever they ask me to do, I'm going to do it."

That means he'll do everything he can to win a cornerback spot.

"I'm just going to keep playing football, and God willing I'll keep making plays," Thomas said.

And when he says "God willing," he means it.


"I liked this kid, glad to see him still at it, I really thought he had a chance with the Saints."

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