Terrell Thomas Terrell Thomas ( born January 8 , 1985 ) is an American football defensive back for the New York Giants of the National Football League . He was drafted by the Giants in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft . He played college football for USC . High school career . Thomas prepped at Rancho Cucamonga High School . Received a scholarship offer from Oregon State and labeled one of the most athletic players in the state after his Sophomore Year . As a junior he racked up 78 tackles , 5 interceptions had 15 catches for 250 yards and 6 touchdowns . Received All Baseline League honors for the 2nd year in a row . As a senior he had 300 yards receiving to go with 5 touchdowns . Rushed for 1300 yards and had 16 rushing touchdowns . Added 600 yards returning for a total of 2200 yards of total offense . On the defensive side of the ball he had 115 tackes , 7 deflections , 4 forced fumbles and 1 fumble recovery . He was named leagues MVP and Area Offensive Player of the year . He was selected to the 2002 Super Prep All - American team , All CIF Division II first team , Tom Lemming All - West , LA Times All - Inland Empire FIrst Team and Press Telegram ' s Best in the West First Team . College career . Thomas played college football at the University of Southern California under head coach Pete Carroll . He was named a 2007 third team preseason All - American . He was also named to the 2007 Jim Thorpe Award Watch List . In his Senior Year at USC in 2007 he had 57 passes thrown his way , allowing only 29 . 8 % of those passes to be completed . He gave up 17 catches for 149 yards and 1 touchdown . On average he gave up 8 . 76 yards per catch and gave up an outstanding 2 . 61 yards per pass attempt . He also had 4 interceptions and was voted to his second straight All Pac - 10 2nd Team , prior to the start of 2007 spring drills , Thomas underwent surgery to repair a left shoulder dislocation . He returned to start all 13 games and again received All - Pac - 10 2nd - team recognition . Thomas ranked 9th on the squad with 45 tackles ( 31 solo ) and had a sack with 4 . 5 stops for losses . He forced 3 fumbles , recovered another and batted away 7 passes , he also gained 44 yards on 4 interception returns . He was the senior member and leader of the secondary that held Brady Quinn to his lowest college completion percentage in a November 2006 game . He was a coaches and Rivals . com second team all Pac - 10 in 2006 . In 2005 , Thomas took over strong side ( right ) cornerback for the first 2 games of the 2005 season , but he suffered torn ligaments in his right knee vs . Arkansas , underwent surgery and was lost for the rest of the year , he finished with 5 solo tackles and a pass break - up , Thomas reclaimed his right cornerback job in 2006 , earning All - Pac - 10 Conference 2nd - team honors . He ranked 7th on the team with 50 tackles ( 35 solo ) and had 3 sacks for losses of 32 yards . He Added 2 fumble recoveries , including 1 he returned for a touchdown . He also intercepted 2 passes and deflected 12 others . In 2004 , Thomas played in 11 games as a reserve cornerback after moving over from free safety in spring drills , most of his playing time was in the dime packages and on special teams and he made 9 tackles ( 7 solo ) , but also batted away a pair of passes and intercepted 2 others solo tackles and a pass break - up . Professional career . New York Giants . Thomas was drafted by the New York Giants in the second round of the 2008 NFL Draft , after projecting to be a third round pick . Thomas was the 63rd overall pick of the draft and the final pick of the second round . After initially being handed # 30 by the Giants , Thomas decided to change his number to # 24 before the start of the 2008 - 2009 NFL regular season , because in Thomas ' opinion he considered # 30 to be a " safety number " 2008 . Thomas missed games in his rookie season due to injuries . When he recovered from his injury he played behind Corey Webster and Aaron Ross . Thomas made the first interception of his NFL career against the Arizona Cardinals in week 12 of the 2008 NFL season , returning it 13 yards . The Giants failed to win in the postseason and their season was ended by their longtime rivals the Philadelphia Eagles . Thomas ended his rookie season by playing in 12 games and starting 2 . He mostly played in nickel packages and contributed in Special Teams . He accounted for 45 tackles , one interception , four passes defended and one force fumble . 2009 . In the 2009 season , Thomas was once again behind Webster and Ross on the depth chart . During training camp Ross was hampered by a hamstring injury . This move allowed Thomas to take snaps as the second corner . Ross inability to heal from his hamstring injury placed Thomas as the starting corner for the 2009 season . Thomas took advantage of the opportunity , before the bye Thomas had 41 tackles , 9 passes defended , 3 interceptions , 1 sack and 1 force fumble . Aaron Ross was able to come back after the bye but Thomas held on firmly to his starting spot . Ross was asked to split time as Free Safety due to lack of depth at the position . When the Giants played the Washington Redskins , Thomas contributed four tackles , two passes defended , and one interception that was returned for a touchdown in a Giants ' victory of 45 - 12 . Thomas finished the season as the number one corner because of injuries to Corey Webster and Aaron Ross being placed on injured reserve . His stats were 85 tackles , the highest on the team , five interceptions , one sack , 18 passes defended and one force fumble . He was tied for twelfth in interceptions for the league . 2011 . On August 22 , 2011 , in a preseason game against the Chicago Bears , Thomas tore his ACL , ending his season . He was placed on injured reserve on August 23 . On March 13 , 2012 , Thomas resigned with the Giants . 2012 . Thomas suffered an injury to his surgically repaired ACL early in training camp , but he expected to recover and return sometime during the 2012 season . On August 31 , 2012 , Thomas was placed on season - ending injured reserve . Statistics . " Source : "