METAIRIE, La. (AP) -Pierre Thomas listened to his mother, and look where it got him.
Overlooked and undrafted after a solid college career at Illinois, Thomas will return to his hometown of Chicago this week for the second time in as many years as an NFL running back and kickoff returner for the New Orleans Saints.
“It’s been tough, but I have always been told, especially by my mother, ‘Never give up,”’ Thomas said after rushing for 102 yards and scoring two touchdowns in the Saints’ victory over Atlanta on Sunday. “She always tells me this: ‘Go out there and have fun. No matter what happens, go out there and have fun and work hard,’ and I just listen to her.”
A mama’s boy Thomas may be. The 5-foot-11, baby-faced, second-year pro comes off that way in his routine visits to schools and hospital pediatric wards in the New Orleans area.
On the field, though, it’s different.
is feet pound down like a pair of jackhammers as he drives his shoulder into tacklers for every extra yard. His balance impresses his coaches and teammates, who are quick to note that one of Thomas’ strengths is getting additional yards after an initial hit.
“He catches people off balance because you see him in the backfield and he doesn’t look like a big, massive physical running back, but that’s exactly how he plays,” Saints receiver Lance Moore said. “He just makes plays and that’s a credit to how hard he’s worked.”
As well as Thomas ran the ball against the Falcons, the highlight of his performance was his 88-yard return of a kickoff he would not have even received if regular kick returner Courtney Roby hadn’t gotten hurt during the game.
Thomas downplayed his efforts on the runback, saying he had good blocking and that “if Roby had been in there it would have been a touchdown. I’m a little too slow.”
Video evidence shows that Thomas slipped through the arms of a tackler at the Saints 15, then slipped another tackle about 10 yards downfield. He juked his way around Atlanta kicker Michael Koenen and raced down the sideline before finally being dragged down at the 16.
A few plays later, Thomas scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard toss sweep. The play highlighted Thomas’ vision and power as he cut inside blocks by tight end Billy Miller and wideout Devery Henderson, then placed his hand on the back of offensive lineman Carl Nicks, steering Nicks toward the goal line. When Nicks went down while making his final block at the 2, Thomas dove forward, bouncing off Nicks’ back while stretching his arms across the goal line.
His first touchdown of the game came on a 7-yard screen pass during which he cut inside blocks by Jahri Evans and Jonathan Goodwin, then used a quick burst to get close to the goal line before bouncing off a tackler to reach the end zone.
His scores helped the Saints keep alive their slim playoff hopes for another week – a particularly gratifying fact for a player who was considered a long-shot to make the Saints’ roster as a rookie in 2007. New Orleans already had Reggie Bush, Deuce McAllister, Aaron Stecker and fourth-round draft choice Antonio Pittman heading into training camp that season.
“He was a very long shot,” fullback Mike Karney recalled. “I mean, you draft a guy fourth-round and then you have him as a free agent? He’s a long, long-shot.”
Thomas outperformed Pittman in the preseason, making the active roster. McAllister went out with a season-ending knee injury in Week 3, Bush missed the final four games with a knee injury and then Stecker missed the season finale with a toe injury, leaving Thomas to start the regular-season finale.
New Orleans lost that game but Thomas flourished, becoming the first player in Saints history to have 100 yards rushing and 100 yards receiving in the same game. He also turned a short pass into an 11-yard touchdown.
In the meantime, Thomas became a go-to guy for team community relations director Nick Karl.
“He does a lot for us. He’s one of the good guys,” Karl said. “The kids love him because he’s not a big, intimidating guy and he’s not that much older than some of them. His story of how he beat the odds is kind of what his message is. He tells the kids: ‘Everything is not always given to you. You’ve got to earn it.”’
Thomas won’t turn 24 until next week, but appears to have earned enormous respect from Saints veterans already. His ability to make plays has something to do with that. His humility and his approach throughout the work week doesn’t hurt either, Karney said.
s what allows you to be successful and play a lot of years in this league.”
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