When you spent your teenage years involved in the civil rights movement, when you listened to Martin Luther King Jr. speak in your church before your 13th birthday, the world will never be limited to a football field. Growing up in Macon in the segregated 1950s and early '60s, Thomas and his family were deeply involved in the various programs at Unionville Baptist Church. As a teenager of the early '60s, that also meant that Thomas soon was marching in protests in the civil rights movement. And when he reached middle school, he decided to be one of the 17 trailblazing students who integrated Lanier Middle School and then eventually Lanier High. It wasn't always easy, but for the first time, Thomas realized how football could help.
Athletes find out very quickly that their desires are similar.
At that point, you can get away from the nonsense. Thomas' days as a pioneer weren't finished. In 1969, he became the first African-American scholarship football player at Florida State. Even more than 20 years after Jackie Robinson paved the way by integrating professional baseball, Thomas' arrival in Florida State was not easy. I received my share of hate mail.