Blair Thomas, Now Recovered, Thinks He Made Right Choice

Blair Thomas, who played an extra season of college football to prove he had recovered from knee surgery, said Thursday his decision was the best he could have made in preparation for the NFL.

The Penn State running back said Thursday that staying in college showed scouts that a season on crutches did not affect his play and made him more prominent among the thousands hoping for an NFL bid.

“I’m in a position a lot of guys would like to be in,” he said.

Indianapolis is expected to sign Illinois quarterback Jeff George as the draft’s top pick. Many expect Thomas to go second, to the New York Jets.

“I really don’t have a preference, but if I could stay in the East, I would like to,” Thomas said.

A year ago, Thomas had considered entering the draft, but his knee was untested after arthroscopic surgery to reconstruct a ligament in January 1988.

Thomas sat out the 1988 season and returned to play in 1989 after no contract drills in spring training.

“I think it was a good decision in a couple of ways,” he said in a telephone conference call. “The main reason was I couldn’t have finished school, and I needed to show people that the knee was fine.

“I’m glad with the decisions I’ve made over the years because those decisions put me in the position that I am in today,” he said.

Thomas injured his knee in late 1987 as the Nittany Lions prepared for the Citrus Bowl against Clemson. By 1989 he recovered enough to become Penn State’s second leading rusher.

“Many people have suffered this kind of injury and come back. Curt Warner for one,” Thomas said. “Midway though the 1988 season, I thought my speed was where it had been.”

Warner is a former Penn State running back who was a first-round draft pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 1983. Thomas rushed for 3,301 yards in his regular-season career, 97 short of Warner’s total. He added 186 in last year’s Holiday Bowl.

Thomas said he last talked to the Jets during a workout camp five weeks ago. This month, he said, the only team to contact him was Seattle.

“They wanted to know where I was going to be on draft day,” Thomas said. “If they wanted to know where I was going to be on draft day, I would assume they were going to try to trade up.”

Thomas said he will be at draft headquarters in New York Sunday. Seattle is scheduled to have the eighth and 10th picks in the first round.

He said playing in the West with Seattle would not bother him.

“Anywhere in the top five, I wouldn’t mind playing. Eventually I could learn a system and produce in that system no matter where it is,” he said.

If Thomas went to the New York Jets, he would be working with running backs Johnny Hector and Freeman McNeil.

“I’ve seen them play over a series of years. They’re mature and a little older and have a sense of the game,” he said. “If I were to go there, I would learn a lot from them.” he said.