http://seattlemedium.com/coach-joey-thomas-inspires-youth-totally-optimize-potential/During his freshmen year at the University of Washington, Thomas thought about quitting football, the game that he has loved since he was a little kid playing for CAYA. But a conversation with his best friend, former UW football player Paul Arnold, got Thomas to refocus and pursue his life’s dream at Montana State University.
“It was a frustrating time for him. He loved football so much and he put everything he had in it,” said Arnold, who also played for UW at the time. “I don’t think it was an ability issue, I think he just didn’t fit into what they were looking for. That probably was the lowest point in his sports career.
According to Thomas, Arnold encouraged him not to “let these folks break your spirit,” and to go somewhere else if he had to but to keep grinding. He went on to play for Montana State, but the impact on his life is something that helps motivate him to encourage his players to keep working and make a way to live out their dreams.
“They broke me,” said Thomas of his time with the UW football program. “They weren’t feeling me and I got no love.”
“To be that broken to feel like I had to quit the game that I loved… that was a huge low point for me,”
Comments
I don't like Joey Thomas but I was relatively close to the program at that time and if you guys think Joey Thomas got a fair shake you are fucking stupid.
Joey got fucked over and they tried to run him because they thought they could get better people.
Rick was Sark, the prequel. And if Sark had run a kid you'd be much more sympathetic to the kid. But you guys are FS and can't figure out that it's generally not a good policy to fuck over local kids in your own program after you've offered them scholarships. Could come back to haunt you.
And, in this case, given that he's Sav'ell Smalls' coach, it has.
Just look at Bryce Sterk vs. Joey Thomas. Same shit, different coaches.
We got desperate and offered a local guy we thought probably didn't have enough talent and took him. In Thomas' case it was probably more nefarious because we were using him to help with Paul Arnold.
With Thomas, as soon as he got here and recruiting picked up we SHIT ALL OVER HIM. They told him he sucked. They told him they wanted him to quit. They told him he wasn't good enough. That he was a disgrace, etc. They didn't try to find another place for him, they just completely tried to make him quit. They used to not acknowledge him at practice, they wouldn't let him take reps and were like 'we don't let scrubs get reps' - if you don't like it, you know what to do.
With Sterk, they gave him a shot and when it became clear he wasn't going to play they went to him and asked if he wanted to play (because it didn't look like he was going to here). If he did, they would try to find him a fit at a school where he would play and be valued.
I wonder which approach works better in the long term... hmmm...
And you shit bags think Joey Thomas is just a bitter guy who quit. You are all fucking morons if you think Joey doesn't have a right to be pissed. And you are all fucking morons if you think we should've treated Sterk that way.
EDIT - look I think Joey's bullshit is fucking tired, but only fucking morons just take one opinion on someone and let that override all their critical thinking about that person. Fucking hell. I feel like I'm talking to fucking 7 year olds 'NOT EVERYONE IS ALL GOOD OR BAD' - but what the fuck do I expect in a culture where all our most popular movies are fucking superhero fagfests that people take seriously?
FUCK OUR SOCIETY.
Nobody is saying Thomas got a fair shake. He can be a whiny bitch and RN can be a fucking douche who screwed him over. Abundance is an option here.
What makes him a whiny bitch? The fact that he got fucked over? The fact that we treated him like shit?
Or the fact that he picked himself up, transferred to Montana State and got FUCKING DRAFTED BY THE NFL AND PLAYED IN THE NFL YOU STUPID FUCK?!?!
They hated Germans ‘’til they died.
Someone shoot me.
When you look at the case of Sterk, isn't that an example of how to treat a player who can't hack it? Isn't that the type of program you would want to send your kids to? If Petersen is the anthesis of Rick and little Joey still holds a grudge then i'm sorry but i'm not going to have any sympathy for the guy despite how poorly he was treated. Life isn't always gumdrops and unicorns.
Do we need to throw him a bone because he's coaching the #1 player in the 2020 class? Absolutely. No question. Smalls is that important for not only on field production but also local perception. Washington was his first offer and I see no reason to believe why Petersen wouldn't prioritize him and do what he needs to do in order to smooth things over with little Joey. It is Petersen's job to convince Thomas that he isn't Rick...
I just think it's going to be funny when Joey's idol/mentor/guru Willie Taggart does the exact same thing to Treshawn at Florida State as what happened to him at UW.....