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of this, Thomas continued to be a team player, thriving in his role and never showing public displeasure, staying with the Oilers as they moved to
Tennessee and turning down offers from other teams that would have been more lucrative and where he could have come out of George's shadow. He spent two more seasons with the
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of the Aggie Heart Award, the highest honor for a Texas A&M senior football player. The Heart Award is presented to a senior who has completed his eligibility and displays the following intangibles: effort, desire, determination, competitiveness, leadership, and courage. The award is voted upon by the entire team.
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as their No. 1 pick in the draft. In 1996, Thomas carried just 49 times for 151 yards. And in 1997, he gained 310 rushing yards on 67 carries. In 1998 his total continued to decline (just 24 carries for 100 yards) as George became a star in the league, leaving little playing time for Thomas. In spite
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and Wes
Danaher) and scoring 115 touchdowns. As a senior at Groveton, Thomas rushed for an incredible 3,701 yards (second best in state history). He was the first Texas running back to rush for 100 yards in all 16 games (the most a Texas high school can play during the season), accomplished in 1990.
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Thomas is remembered by many Aggie fans as much for what he did off the field as for what he did on it. He was an active member of service organization Aggie
Athletes Involved, and was awarded the Southwest Conference American Airlines Spirit Award. He was honored by his teammates as the 1994 winner
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in 2001. He played in 12 games for the
Falcons that year, and finished with 37 carries for 126 yards and caught two passes for 26 yards. For his career, Thomas played in 103 games and rushed 532 times for 1,973 yards and 12 touchdowns. Thomas was waived by the Falcons before the 2002 preseason and
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Thomas was also well known by fellow students for an incident in Cain Hall, the then athletic dormitory at Texas A&M. When a malfunction in a soft drink machine resulted in cans being dispensed without change being inserted into the machine, Thomas decided to intervene. Although he came from
504:. Thomas' teams also established school records for most points in a season twice and never lost a game at Kyle Field and never lost to a conference opponent (28–0–1). He is Texas A&M's 4th all-time leading rusher and is 2nd all-time in rushing touchdowns.
468:. He enjoyed a record-breaking career at Groveton, leading the Indians to two Class 2A state titles, while gaining 8,441 yards (third best in national high school history at the time, currently third best in state history behind
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and then compiled very consistent rushing totals his final three years in
College Station: 856, 996, and 868 yards and became only the fourth Aggie to rush from more than 3,000 career yards. He was a two-time, consensus
528:. As a rookie, he was one of only 19 players in the AFC to finish with 1,000 or more combined yards from scrimmage (1,151 total – 947 rushing and 204 receiving). Thomas' rushing total was, at the time, second only to
548:, playing a backup role on the field, but providing leadership both on and off the field with his unparalleled work ethic and outstanding character. In 1999, the Titans made it to
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During Thomas' career at A&M, the Aggies led the
Southwest Conference in rushing four consecutive seasons as Thomas formed a powerful combination with future NFL backs
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580:, at the age of 41 from a heart attack. Thomas was survived by his wife Leigh, 4-year-old son Ian Rodney Thomas, and a teenage stepson, Jalen David Brown.
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This article is about the NFL running back. For the NFL safety, see
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in which Thomas appeared as a substitute, however they lost to the
412:(March 30, 1973 – June 14, 2014) was an American professional
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714:. Bryan-College Station, Texas: The Eagle.Com. June 17, 2014
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Texas High School
Football Rushing Season Yardage Leaders
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Texas High School
Football Rushing Career Yardage Leaders
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524:in the third round (89th pick overall) of the
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712:"Thomas funeral service scheduled for Friday"
444:. Thomas was the cousin of former NFL safety
489:selection and his 45 career touchdowns tied
476:The highly recruited Thomas chose to attend
23:. For other persons with similar names, see
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700:Rodney Thomas dies at 41 | ProFootballTalk
247: / round: 3 / pick: 89
120:Learn how and when to remove this message
622:"College Football – 09.19.94 – SI Vault"
877:Players of American football from Texas
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887:Texas A&M Aggies football players
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460:, on March 30, 1973, Thomas attended
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16:American football player (1973–2014)
563:He signed as a free agent with the
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134:American football player
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321:Career NFL statistics
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462:Groveton High School
442:Texas A&M Aggies
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54:improve this article
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188:(2014-06-14)
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52:Please help
47:verification
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867:2014 deaths
862:1973 births
831:Gary Walker
554:Kurt Warner
856:Categories
791:selections
584:References
376:Touchdowns
374:Receiving
348:Touchdowns
241:NFL draft:
169:1973-03-30
143:No. 20, 22
80:newspapers
685:April 13,
663:March 31,
498:Greg Hill
148:Position:
110:June 2014
718:June 18,
638:June 15,
470:Ken Hall
456:Born in
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346:Rushing
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225:Groveton
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