Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120036
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
How far has John I. Thomas come in his football career at Virginia Tech?
Put it this way: No longer is he simply known as the poor guy who accidently punted a football into the Lane Stadium stands while practicing on the Tech sideline during last season's West Virginia game.
A year later, Thomas is getting his kicks on the field. So much so he was selected as this week's Big East Conference special-teams player of the week after averaging 42.7 yards on seven punts Saturday in Tech's 14-0 victory at Navy.
Now the redshirt freshman can joke about his 1994 punt that ended up in the seats instead of on the stat sheet.
``It's about time everybody gets the real story on that,'' Thomas said with a laugh. ``I was starting to get cold on the sideline during the game, so I decided to grab a ball and start kicking balls into the [practice] net to stay warm. Then I kicked one that ricocheted off my foot and the ball flew into the stands. I went, `Oops.' I ducked, and I took off.
``Well, Atle [Larsen, Tech's backup kicker last year] had kicked one in the stands earlier that night. So when it came out in the paper the next week that I had kicked a ball in the stands, I made a big joke out of it with Atle. I said, `Atle, that was you. You did it.' He knows the truth.''
The truth is, Thomas has come up huge for Tech this year.
If anyone has prospered from the Hokies' early-season offensive woes it has been Thomas. The kid who grew up kicking footballs with former Texas A&M and NFL star Tony Franklin in College Station, Texas, has been called on 35 times in five games, averaging 40.5 yards per punt (third in the Big East).
``John has been pretty consistent,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer, who admittedly was worried about replacing three-year letterman Robbie Colley, who had gone to minicamp with the NFL's San Francisco 49ers. ``I think we've done well punting the ball. I don't think we could have asked for more right now.''
Thomas said things have gotten easier for him since the season opener against Boston College. On his third punt as a collegian, Thomas mishandled the snap, scrambled to avoid the rush and threw an incomplete pass.
``I had never kicked a football in front of 50,000 people before,'' Thomas said. ``After I dropped that snap, I said to myself, `Well, it has about all happened, hasn't it?'
``Since then, I've settled down and it's been smooth sailing. It's fun. I have a blast out there now.''
While Thomas said he needs to be more consistent - ``I'm one or two punts away from having a 46- or 47-yard average'' - Tech's punt team has been solid. The Hokies haven't had a punt blocked. Their 38.3-yard net average - punt distance minus return yardage - ranks second in the Big East and 23rd in the country.
``I feel like I fit back there now, and that's real important to me,'' Thomas said. ``You know, coming in here I felt like ... `Aw, that guy is a damned punter, a damned kicker.' Well, I was a lot of things before I was a punter, you know.''
In high school, Thomas used more than his right foot while quarterbacking DeMatha High School in Hyattsville, Md., to the Washington (D.C.) Catholic Athletic Conference title in 1993.
Thomas' mettle was severely tested in his one year at DeMatha, where he unexpectedly was forced to replace injured star quarterback Tim Strachan two weeks before the start of the season.
``It's something I'll never forget,'' Thomas said. ``I had just gotten back from the beach with a friend of mine. As soon as we walked into his house, I saw Tim's picture on TV. I said, `What's going on?' They said Tim had broken his neck and was paralyzed from a real freak accident [while bodysurfing].''
With Strachan out, DeMatha's quarterback job fell to Thomas, who had just transferred from South Lakes High School in Reston. Talk about tough situations.
``I went up there and started learning the offense real quick,'' Thomas said. ``There was a lot of pressure on me, a lot of press, a lot of people who wanted know who this John Thomas was.
``I got to wondering if I was a bad person for doing this. I felt like I was taking my buddy's limelight. I went in there and just played. We finished 8-3 and won the championship.''
Thomas decided to follow DeMatha's football pipeline to Tech, where the Hokies agreed to also let him play baseball. As a freshman pitcher, Thomas was 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA for Chuck Hartman's Hokies in the spring.
``Baseball is something I've always wanted to do,'' said Thomas, whose cousin, Zach Thomas, is an All-America linebacker at Texas Tech.
``I don't want to be Deion Sanders or Bo Jackson. I'm a specialist. I punt, I kick a little and I pitch.''
Thomas split the spring playing baseball and practicing football.
``It's a tribute to this program that a guy like me can do both sports,'' Thomas said. ``It's one of the main reasons I went to school here, and they've been true to me.''
Thomas' foot has been true to the Hokies. So far.
``You're only as good as your last punt,'' Thomas said. ``The pressure is always on.''
Especially with those grandstands lurking.
by CNB