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Jeff Thomas sticking with Illinois. NOT!

SFbayCane said:
Gut feel.

He quit on his high school team, tried to quit UM after his freshman season (coaches talked him out of it) then quit mid-season and most importantly, mid-semester. So in order for him to play at another D1 school he'll have to make up the classes he didn't complete this semester at UM and be a full time student at Illinois for one full academic year before being eligible to play again.

Had he stayed at UM he would have been the marquee guy in 2019 and been in prime position to get drafted in the 2020 draft. Now he'll have to do what I listed above then play for Illinois in 2020 and go into the 2021 draft. I will be very surprised if he can hold up through all of that. Just my opinion.

Had he transferred to a lower division school he could have played in 2019 and entered the 2020 draft but instead he chose Illinois so he has to sit out 2019. Questionable move.

I can foresee a scenario where he just uses Illinois as a practice spot in 2019 then declaring for the 2020 draft after not playing the 2019 season. He'll go undrafted but will likely get a UFA opportunity with some NFL squad. But that would mean he never plays another CFB game (my prediction). This is the most probable outcome IMO.
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Wish him luck east St. Louis is a tough place to come from ... good point about the classes a lot of people are missing out on that aspect.
 
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LMAO at anyone who thinks Diaz will try to bring this kid back. Anyone hearing that isn't hearing it from Diaz and company.
 
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coachpatg said:
He wasn't dismissed. He quit. Lots of behind the scenes stuff went on, but it all came to a boil when he mushed Dugans in practice and walked off the field. To make matters worse, Richt chastised him in a meeting the following day and JT4 said "F--- IT. I'M OUT!", and hasn't looked back since.

Interesting part to all of this is that there's been some talk with new coaching staff about trying to bring him back. Stay tuned.
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Stop

Anytime I read a post with the phrases, "Stay tuned" or "Watch the Finish", I immediately disregard everything that was written in said post.
 
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Just a thought, if Haselwood was a Sooners fan this whole time, why didnt he just commit there in the first place.
 
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Thought we were done talking about this kid no? It’s over he’s not just gonna magically appear. Look to the future.
 
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Alien said:
Yeah but dugans is gone now so...come on back Jeff! Lol
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So dumb. One of the biggest challenges in front of this new staff is rooting out the diva mentality that had taken over the locker room. Jeff Thomas was a ring leader of that sh-t. Zero chance whatsoever the staff would take him back regardless of his on field potential.

Why the **** are people still talking about JT4? He chose his path, he punked out and quit on yet another team and he's gone. Lets talk about the solid kids we have coming back on the WR corps and what a bad a-s Payton is going to be.
 
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For_The_U said:
So dumb. One of the biggest challenges in front of this new staff is rooting out the diva mentality that had taken over the locker room. Jeff Thomas was a ring leader of that sh-t. Zero chance whatsoever the staff would take him back regardless of his on field potential.

Why the **** are people still talking about JT4? He chose his path, he punked out and quit on yet another team and he's gone. Lets talk about the solid kids we have coming back on the WR corps and what a bad a-s Payton is going to be.
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Absolutely. Diaz would have been a witness to this kind of cancerous behavior. No way he brings him back.

Don’t be surprised if CMD sets an example with Perry, too.
 
Not usually my thing to do this but whatever.

A close friend of mine speaks directly with him from time to time as well as others in the mutual circle.

He told me the following...

His ultimate decision was based on the fact that he really wanted to be closer to home. He has a child that is there (thats what it sounded like I was being told) in addition, apparently his grandmother is very sick or something of the sort. I guess they are very close and its been weighing on him heavily.

If my memory serves me correctly his said there was some sort of incident with a coach but it wasn't anything that its been made out to be. I may be off there as I more sure about the above statements.

My friend, who is a former NFL guy did speak with him at length about the drawbacks of his decision. Illinois lack of a passing game and how he would be used as more of a bubble screen guy etc. That he was going to take a lot of physical punishment since he would be a singular marquee guy etc.

Apparently he knows but the above is ultimately what drove him to Illinois. It was the closest thing to home and still a major program.

I didn't press for further details since I'm not trying to exploit a friendship like that but thought others might want to know some more context.
 
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