Henry Lee Thomas Jr. (born January 12, 1965) is an American former professional football player. He played as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). His nickname was "Hardware Hank."[1]
No. 97, 98, 95 | |||||||||||||||
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Position: | Defensive tackle | ||||||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
Born: | Houston, Texas, U.S. | January 12, 1965||||||||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||
Weight: | 277 lb (126 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school: | Eisenhower (Houston, TX) | ||||||||||||||
College: | LSU | ||||||||||||||
NFL draft: | 1987 / round: 3 / pick: 72 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||
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Player stats at PFR |
Early life, family and education
editThomas was born in Houston, Texas.[2] He was a star athlete at Eisenhower High School there.[2]
He attended Louisiana State University, where he played college football for its football team.
Professional football career
editThomas was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the third round of the 1987 NFL Draft.[3] He played for the Minnesota Vikings for the first eight seasons of his career. Thomas twice was selected to the Pro Bowl. He joined the Detroit Lions in 1995, where he played two seasons. He subsequently played four seasons with the New England Patriots and retired from the game.[2]
During his entire NFL career, he was responsible for 93.5 sacks and over 800 tackles.[2][1]
He has been an intern coach for the Indianapolis Colts and Minnesota Vikings.[1]
NFL career statistics
editLegend | |
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Led the league | |
Bold | Career high |
Regular season
editYear | Team | Games | Tackles | Interceptions | Fumbles | ||||||||||
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GP | GS | Comb | Solo | Ast | Sck | Int | Yds | TD | Lng | FF | FR | Yds | TD | ||
1987 | MIN | 12 | 11 | 81 | - | - | 2.5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1988 | MIN | 15 | 15 | 80 | - | - | 6.0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
1989 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 94 | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 37 | 1 |
1990 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 109 | - | - | 8.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1991 | MIN | 16 | 15 | 100 | - | - | 8.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1992 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 69 | - | - | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1993 | MIN | 13 | 13 | 66 | - | - | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
1994 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 55 | 41 | 14 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1995 | DET | 16 | 16 | 68 | 45 | 23 | 10.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
1996 | DET | 15 | 15 | 47 | 31 | 16 | 6.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1997 | NWE | 16 | 16 | 69 | 44 | 25 | 7.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1998 | NWE | 16 | 15 | 64 | 42 | 22 | 6.5 | 1 | 24 | 1 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
1999 | NWE | 16 | 16 | 62 | 42 | 20 | 3.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2000 | NWE | 16 | 5 | 42 | 24 | 18 | 4.5 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
213 | 199 | 1,006 | 269 | 138 | 93.5 | 4 | 47 | 1 | 24 | 19 | 14 | 39 | 2 |
References
edit- ^ a b c "Interview With 14 Year NFL Veteran Henry Thomas". detroitlionspro.com. Detroit Lions Pro. November 21, 2014. Archived from the original on August 14, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ a b c d "Henry Thomas NFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
- ^ "1987 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved September 30, 2023.