As the pastor at Elm Grove Baptist Church in Meridian, Ga., for the past 21 years, Jared Thomas often has talked to his youth ministry about the importance of perseverance and tenacity.
Sometimes you have disappointments in life, setbacks, said Thomas wife, Louella, the church s associate minister. Our son, Daniel we use his story sometimes to encourage them. With Daniel, they see a real-life example of that. One of them, one of their own struggled, but made it all the way to the NFL. We tell them, Delayed don t mean denied.
Barring another setback from a nagging hamstring issue that limited Thomas in practice this week, the 6-1, 228-pound rookie running back said Saturday he will play for the Dolphins on Monday night against the Jets (2-3).
His parents? They will be glued to their TV set at their home in Hilliard, hoping to witness the Dolphins (0-4) not only end a seven-game losing steak, but see their youngest son return to the tantalizing form he s shown in the two games he s actually been healthy enough to play in.
I don t want that to come off the wrong way like I m frustrated with Daniel. I know the guy wants to be out there, Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said earlier this week.
It s just frustrating in that you kind of got this toy out there, that s a pretty good toy right now, and you haven t been able to use him in the way you want to use him. I have this vision in how I want this backfield to look, and I haven t really had it yet.
In April, Miami traded third-, fifth- and seventh-round picks to the Redskins to climb up to the 62nd overall selection and snatch Thomas. His troublesome hamstring isn t something new. It surfaced during the draft process and slowed his 40-yard dash time at his college Pro Day.
But Thomas said he s planning to get past it especially because so many teammates, including backfield mate Reggie Bush, have been harping on him and other rookies to take better care of their bodies.
It all comes from me not hydrating properly, said Thomas, who despite playing only against the Texans and Browns is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, 101 rushing yards per game and trails the Saints Mark Ingram by 14 yards for most rushing yards by a rookie.
I ve missed the first few games, but at the same time gotten a whole lot better, and I feel like I ll be ready to go. I can t wait. It s time to get back on the field.
Thomas ride to the NFL came close to never taking off. Raised in Hilliard, a small town on the Georgia-Florida border his father described as having one Wendy s, one Winn Dixie and one traffic light off U.S. 1, Thomas was always blessed with excellent talent. A huge fan of the University of Miami and the late Sean Taylor, Thomas starred as an option quarterback, linebacker and safety at Hilliard and was a terrific basketball player, too, according to his dad.
But he let his academics slip his junior and senior year of high school, his mother said. And when the University of Florida, Ole Miss and other schools recruited him, Thomas didn t have the SAT score to qualify.
The hardest thing he had to do was come home and tell us he failed, Louella Thomas said. I still remember him coming into our room afraid to speak because he thought he disappointed us. He wept, he cried. We let him know God had a plan for him and that he would succeed.
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