The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Catching up with: Sloan Thomas
07.23.2012 | Football
July 22, 2012
Sloan Thomas was a wide receiver from 2000-03 who played in 48 career contests, including bowl games, and started 20. He recorded 88 catches for 1,362 yards and 12 TDs during his career and averaged 15.5 yards per catch. Thomas was picked in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Houston Texans and spent time with the Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets during his pro career. Thomas spoke with MB-TF.com during the golf outing at Letterman's Weekend in April.
What brought you out to Letterman's weekend?
Anytime we get a chance to play with fellow Longhorns and longtime Longhorns, it is a blessing. I just came down to Austin this morning and had a chance to play with Roy [Williams] and BJ [Johnson], and I got to see a bunch of people. The great thing about this tournament is that some of the guys you played with and some of them you have heard of, so it is a great way to bring Longhorns back together.
When you saw Williams and Johnson, did it bring back a lot of good memories?
They were actually two of my groomsmen at my wedding a couple of months ago. Every time we are around, we always talk about the days. Still the best time of our lives is college. It was the best four years of my life.
How did it feel coming in to Texas with guys of great caliber?
That is why we come to Texas. You want to play with that type of caliber. We, of course, always wanted to win a national championship and we never won one, so it is a disappointment for us. We felt like we didn't achieve what we wanted to. But I have some great friends, and I wouldn't have traded it for the world to come to the University of Texas.
Did you foresee that you all would have made a lifelong friendship?
I don't [think] any of us could've thought that we would be as good of friends as we are now as when we came in. We are just great friends. That is how Coach Brown is all about family and friendship. And I actually classify them as not just friends but brothers of mine.
So what are you doing now?
I am the director of development of UTSA Athletics, so I raise the money for football. I started the football program, and I also have 16 other sports. It has been a blessing.
How did you decide that is what you wanted to do?
Actually Coach Brown helped me get in to the UT system and the development side of things. I still stay in touch with him, and he stays in touch with us. We can't do anything for him now, but he still does [for us.] It is the kind of character guy he is, and that's why we are so thankful we came to UT.
Do you find your job fulfilling?
Oh yes, it is very fulfilling. Any time you are seeing lives changed and being around college kids. What it does for a lot of these kids from San Antonio are first generation kids, the first to ever go to college. So to see these kids go to college, live their dream, be able to do it for free, and get an education out of it has been great to see. Texas was where everything was so nice and now we are seeing something completely different where it's nice, but we don't have all the bells and whistles. That is what we are trying to get right now and to be able to compete at a Division 1 level.
Do you feel your time at Texas prepared you for your life after football?
Yes and there is no university that would've as well, to me, because UT teaches you to be the best. And I think that from the academic side as well as the athletic. I was prepared, if not more prepared that I thought I should've been coming out of school just because of the football opportunity that I had - as well as in the classroom - to take on the real world.
