Getting to Know … Pat Thomas

Name: Patrick Wain Thomas.

Born: January 26, 1983 in Vallejo, California. His family moved to New Orleans and then to Miami at the age of four, where he grew up. Dad was in the Navy. Grew up in the Kendall neighborhood of Miami, which is southwest of the downtown area and just southwest of Coral Cables. The Don Shula Expressway runs through Kendall.

Parents: Winston and Monica Thomas. Older sister Laurie Ann and younger sister Cheyenne. His parents divorced when he was four years old and he moved to Miami with his mother.

Attended: Killian High School and North Carolina State University. Other athletes from Killian High included the late Sean Taylor, safety for the Washington Redskins, retired WR Randall Hill, NBA guards Raja Bell and Steve Blake and Tennessee Titans LB Stephen Tulloch.

Miami’s a very big city and there are a lot of temptations for a young man. How did you stay on the right side?
“I’ve came a long way and to look back and see from Miami to Kansas City, you see a lot of different things. There were a lot of influences, friends … just to look back and see that God has constantly made a way out for me whether it was through going to college and not knowing if I was ever going to go to college, to not knowing if I was going to play football and here I am in the NFL. That’s God’s work and graces. My mom always stayed on me, throughout my life, even up to today. I thank her for that. I remember going outside to play and it was night time and she would come out looking for me. She would drive her car around trying to find me and I would be hiding in the bushes. My friends would be like ‘Pat there’s your Mom’ and I’m hiding behind a tree. I would go home and that’s when the whipping came. She never let me forget what was important.”

Is Wain a family name and why the different spelling? “That came from my father. When I was born he was into Bruce Lee movies and he wanted to name me Wain Lee Thomas, but my mother wasn’t going to let that happen. So I think she gave on the Wain. I don’t like that name. Hate it. Why it’s spelled that way only my Dad can answer. I think he just wanted to be different.”

A lot of players have come into the NFL from N.C. State the last five years, how can that much talent not win a national title? “Good question. My junior year was Philip Rivers last year there and we had a great defense that year. My senior year we had a great defense due to our coach Reggie Herring. I was blessed to play with guys who wanted to get to the ball and everybody wanted to make plays and do their job. We’ve got a lot of guys in the league.”

Favorite place in the world? “I would go to Jamaica if I had to pick one place. My family is from there. Both my mother and father were born in Jamaica. My Mom left when she was 16 and my Dad when he was 19. I like the country life. A lot of my family is from the countryside there. It’s real relaxing.”

If the TV is on, what are you watching? “I don’t watch too much TV. I like to watch re-runs: Martin, Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Good Times, stuff like that. My mom is like you’ve seen this plenty of times, but I like to sit and watch them over and over.”

Favorite meal: “That would be curried chicken and rice and beans.”

Who is your hero? “Jesus Christ, no doubt about it. He saved me, he saved the human race. I wish people would realize that God is love and Jesus came to show us how to love.”

What was your first job? “I worked at McDonald’s in the back, making burgers and cheese burgers. I didn’t like it much and then one day I came in after working about two weeks and the manager guy says to me ‘I thought I fired you.’ Man that was bad. He checked the list and I was still on there, but I quit the next day.”

What’s your favorite movie? “I like movies I can watch over and over again. A lot of ’80s movies like Karate Kid and Teen Wolf. Recently, the movie I really liked I saw last year, called City of God. It was Brazilian and you had to read the sub-titles but it was very good.”

What’s your ride? “A Chevy Avalanche. Nothing fancy.”

What was your first car? A Dodge Colt. My grandma bought it for me. It was like a little buggy, like a Geo. It was red. I remember I got into my first accident and the hood got messed up when I ran into the back end of another car. After I was driving away from the scene, I was driving home and the wind was blowing, and the hood kept flying up and I had to reach my hand out the window and push it back down. I eventually had to tie it down. It was a mess.”

What was the hardest class you took at North Carolina State? Chemistry. I had it in high school and did pretty good, so I took it in college thinking it would be the same thing. We went over the periodic tables and stuff like that and I was good. But that was the first week. Then came all this other stuff and oh my, it was tough. That was the worst.”

What’s on your I-Pod? “I have a lot of gospel and some reggae too. I like to listen to gospel, songs about Jesus and God. It gets my motor running.”