Coming out of high school, Thomas was ranked the No. 1 athlete in the nation by Rivals.com and ESPN
De'Anthony Thomas attended Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, California, where he played football and ran track. In 2010, as a senior, he rushed for an impeccable 1,299 yards on only 114 carries (11.4 yards per carry) for 18 touchdowns. On defense as a cornerback, he made 42 tackles and intercepted five passes. Primarily due to the play of Thomas, Crenshaw High School won 12 consecutive games to end the 2010 season and took home the CIF Los Angeles Section state title.
Thomas doesn't do walk-throughs
The day before a game, like most teams in the league, the Chiefs run a game-plan walk-through. But according to an article in the Oregonian written last season, Chiefs tight end Richard Gordon said Thomas simply can't do them.
"He can't do walk-throughs," Gordon said about Thomas. "He can't walk-through, everything is run. Everything. No walk-through. ... He'll run the route every time. I don't think he can slow down."
Highlights from De'Anthony Thomas' 2014 season.
Thomas lives off of Gatorade to get him through training camp practices
Thomas was nicknamed "Black Momba" by the rapper Snoop Dogg
As a 12-year old, Thomas played in Snoop Dogg's Snoop Youth Football League, where he was nicknamed the "Black Momba."
Snoop Dogg explained his reasoning behind the nickname in an interview with Pac-12.com.
"I crowned him the Black Momba because I've never seen anyone move in grass that fast other than a black snake," Snoop said.
Thomas regards former teammate and current draft prospect Marcus Mariota rather highly
Andy Reid was asked about his thoughts on Mariota at the NFL Annual Meeting, and though Reid admitted he didn't meet wit the quarterback prospect, he spoke with Thomas about him.
"Just from afar, I listen to what his teammates say. I've got one on my team (De'Anthony Thomas) and I talked to him about him, I asked him about him. And he goes, 'This guy is unbelievable. Great leader, great person.'"
