Reflection

Doing a blog on my favorite role model, and athlete has been an honor. This will be my last post, and i will be summing up what iv gone through in this experience such as difficulties, what i liked and didn't like, etc...
One of the things i learned that shocked me was that he had a 4.0 all throughout high school, and a 4.0 to start college through the spring. That made me understand why he had so many colleges looking at him and wanting him for their program so desperately.  Other than his amazing athletic ability. Another thing that i learned that i thought was interesting was that he has the record for the 100 and 200 meter dash for Crenshaw High School. Which has been a record for over 25 years, and i found that very astonishing. And i run track, so i know how fast you have to be to break a division one californian sprint record thats been held up for over 25 years. I knew he was fast, but thats like, beyond fast.
Some things that i felt difficult to find, or understand was first of all, he is kind of new to the sports world, so it was very hard to find any personal things about him. All i could basically find is stuff about him in high school and college. Another difficult thing to get on my blog was to find pictures, for pretty much the same reason of nit finding any information from his personal life.
 The most rewarding thing about doing my blog was learning more about my role model and favorite college football player it makes it more entertaining to watch him because i know more about him than just sports. Another thing that was rewarding was that i got to study the history of the game all in one.
In conclusion this will be the last post i do.  I really enjoyed doing this process, learning about my favorite football player was really an honor and I would love to do this all ofer again with another athlete. It was entertaining, fun, and hard at the same time.Photo credit

History of football

Football has always been a fast pace, physical sport. Most of the time it is a big advantage to have the fastest people on your team. Football is all about speed, I think because if you cant catch anyone, then there is no point in being physical. The greatest players to ever play in the NFL were also the fastest people to play the game. All you ever hear sports analysts and recruiters talk about is how fast, or quick someone is. De'Anthony Thomas, Oregon's running back, and special teams expert is the fastest player in, and to ever play in college football. His 40 yard dash is 4.25 which would also be the fastest time in the NFL as well. And is ranked 2 out of 170 backs in college football. The last player to ever even come close to a 40 time like that in college was Chris Johnson, he is now the fastest player n the NFL and plays for the Tennessee Titans. Speed is also the number one thing NFL and college scouts look for, even before strength. Its so important because you can always make someone stronger, or smarter, jump higher, or learn plays faster, butt it is said that speed is the number one hardest thing to improve on with an NFL player.  NFL combine is made up of 5 categories, 225 bench reps, vertical, broad jump, 3 cone shuffle, and the most popular, and that people are known for, the 40 yard dash. And people look at the 40 the most by far.
Photo credit   Amy daughters

De'Anthony Thomas: life story

In this post, the accomplishments of De'Anthony Thomas will be discussed. This will be more interesting and will give out a lot of information that you probably wouldn't have guessed.
De'Anthony Thomas is one of the most rare athletes you'll ever see. During his high school career, he was a track star, one the top recruits in the nation for his 100 and 200 meter dash. One of his biggest accomplishments is that he broke the Crenshaw heights school record for both events. I know that doesn't seem that big of a deal, but Crenshaw heights is one of the biggest schools in the nation. And he broke a record that stood since 1979 until De'Anthony Thomas broke that 30 year record. With that, he even got a chance to try out for the olympics, which he turned down because of his career at Oregon. (Ben Glitsman)
Another big thing that he had happen in his life is that he was originally signed at USC or Southern California University. Later on in his senior season, his dream college had a conference with him and offered him a full ride to the University of Oregon. They also offered him guaranteed more playing time than what USC would give him. He said the reason of him choosing Oregon over USC was that he thought he would have a better future as an individual, and also as a team if he went to Oregon. (David Wharton)

The third accomplishment that he had done was the top 3 top running backs in the nation as a high schooler. As a senior, he had 22 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and over 1500 yards. Leading his high school team to a perfect season capping off with a division one California state championship. He said after that championship game, he knew he was going to go big, he said his next goal was heisman.
As a high school football player and track runner, he got the award of top recruit in the nation. He was 2nd in half backs, and the top sprinter in the nation. He is now the top recruit for his class as a college sophomore and going to be a great contender for the heisman his junior season in 2013.

His biggest accomplishment that he has gone through is having a 4.0 grade point average in high school where he said was hard to do in his area of town where there was a lot of bad things going on and he had to make a lot of choices on order to maintain his perfect career on the field and in the classroom. An even bigger deal, he continued to keep his perfect grade point average in college, his coach once told a reporter that he is the top student of his football team, and his team averages a 3.0 which is a full grade below Thomas. He takes a lot of pride in his grades.(Adam Jude)

De'Anthony Thomas has an amazing  life story, especially if your an athlete who plays the same sports as he does. It makes you understand what he is going through. He plays with the same passion that he uses in the class room, and that is what the coaches and recruits look for.





Ben Glicksman
David Wharton
Adam Jude
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Risks And Benefits Of Football

Football is one of the best sports you can play when it comes to the benefits you receive. It can also be one of the worst sports when it comes to the risks involved. I chose this topic because i want to let people know, mostly athletes about what they are getting themselves into.
The risks of football injuries are countless.   But the one i am going to focus on is the most common, and moat dangerous injury, the concussion. I read an article called "The Dangers Of Football Brain."  It talks about how several professional football players that have had concussions during their era, and are now retired have sued the NFL and some even gone as far as committing suicide. An anonymous former NFL player said "football is of those things that you love, but can kill you." The NFL is now doing a lot more checks on concussions, also fining athletes for what is now a penalty called, illegal helmet to helmet contact.Steve young
Even tho football has a lot of scary injuries and risks, if you make it that far there are many benefits that you are rewarded with. In an article called "The Benefits Of Football" it basically talks about how it makes you a better person, physically and emotionally.  It teaches you life lessons about teamwork, and hard work. Plus if you make it as far as the professional league then you get paid the big bucks. San Francisco's hall of fame quarter back said, "i learned a lot of life lessons from Bill Walsh about how important a game plan is, it helped me become a better player on the field and off.  Annonymous
Football comes with a lot of benefits and risks, but in the long run it comes down to the life lessons and how much of an impact the people you meet help you become a better person.

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Speed training

Speed. Football is all about it. If you can run a 4.3 40 yard dash your almost guaranteed a spot in any division 1 college football team. And my boy De'Anthony Thomas has got a whole lot of it. He has a special speed workout that he has recently shared with ESPN because everyone is curious about how the fastest man in college football does his workouts. This is basically what he does every day.
-Parallel squat-250x10
-Power clean-200x5x5
-Stairs for 45 minutes
-10 build ups to 100 meters.
 -and he finishes off with a 1 mile cool-down
Then for track workouts, which he is very well known for, winning state in California in the 200 meter dash. His workouts are very simple and anyone can do them.

5 reps / 10 meters /100 percent effort (full out from a 4 point start) walk back. Take a 5 minute rest break between each set.
5 reps / 20 meters /100 percent effort (full out from a 3 point start).
5 reps / 40 meters /100 percent effort (full out from a 3 point start).
2-3 reps of flying 30 meter sprints at 100 percent for acceleration (built up over 20 meters and at max for 30 meters).
This simple workout has made him very popular in what he does. And very well respected. Elizabeth Quinn

Hopes and dreams

De'Anthony Thomas is by far the most explosive player in college football. Entertaining, unique, amazing and special these are just a few words that describe what type of player he is. No team has even come close to beating Oregon this season, averaging an astonishing 53 points a game, ranking 1st in the nation in rushing yards per game, points per game, and total points. Some experts say its because of their quarter back Marcus Mariota, but most, like me, say its because of there dangerous man in the back field, and special teams expert De'Anthony Thomas. He gets very nervous when talking about where and what he wants to do after football. During an interview,

He considers himslef a student who plays football, not a football player, a product design manager, he hopes to one day design his own new brand of clothing. He said that even without football propelling him, he would still have ambitions to succeed. "People who really know me, they know what I want to do and the dreams that i want to accomplish, people who dont know me, just know me as a football player."Aaron fentress

http://seattle.sbnation.com/2011/10/29/2523745/chip-kelly-quote-deanthony-thomas

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Something you might not know

De'Anthony Thomas is college footballs fastest player, but everyone already knows that, something that a lot of people might not know about him is he went to high school with Snoop Doggs younger son. Even better, he played for Snoop Doggs youth football team. Snoop Dogg describes him as the most dynamic and explosive 12 year old he has ever seen. In college he is very well known for his famous nickname the "black momba" normally its spelled mamba, but he prefers it with an "o". He came up with this name by his youth football coach, Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg says he calls him this because he can slither through defenses and has quote "deadly moves". The "black momba" has set the record for most touchdowns by a true freshman for Oregon with 18. 2 of those touchdowns came from the Rose Bowl which he also set two more records for longest run from scrimmage, has a 91 yard touchdown run in the opening drive. Also highest yards per carry in the Rose Bowl for 77.5 yards per carry on two carries. Chip kelly, one of Americas favorite sports analysts, says "De'Anthony Thomas is very pleasing to watch in many different ways for Oregon fans".  His record setting times in his high school track career in the 100 and 200 meter dash has also became a big part in his athletic career at Oregon. Chip kelly

The story of De'anthony Thomas

De'Anthony Thomas

From as early as the age of 5, coaches, friends, and parents knew that De'Anthony Thomas had a gift and a very bright future. As he went into high school, it became more and more clear to everyone that he was going to be a special athlete.  As one of the fastest high schoolers in the nation, he was looked upon by division one track and football teams. He now plays football and runs track for the university of Oregon.
Now as he is in college, he is getting some recognition from being the fastest high schooler to the fastest man in college.   Even tho he doesn't start at running back for the ducks, he is even more well known that Oregon's starting running back Kenyan Barner. He is also known for his speed as a kick returner. In this blog, I will be showing and giving out alot of information about De'anthony Thomas's life, and sports career.