CHENEY, Wash. — Former Central Valley High School standout Brandon Thomas is trying to earn reps as a walk on for the Eastern Washington football team this fall. In his first couple of weeks as a college football player, Thomas is learning the tough adjustment to the life of a student athlete.
"At first, it is really tough. The first few days test your mental fortitude and make you want to quit, but thankfully I think I have pretty good mental fortitude," Thomas mused.
Thomas lost his lower leg due to osteosarcoma in 2020, but he is not allowing that to limit his dreams.
"The thing that keeps me going is playing the game of football. The moment I step on the field and the moments I get reps, they remind me of how much I love this sport. I would never trade it for anything," Thomas said.
His position coach echoes that sentiment.
"I could tell right away he is a hard working kid who loves football and has all the qualities of being an EKG, which is exactly what we look for here at Eastern, so he was just a natural fit," EWU defensive line coach Matt Ulrich said.
At Eastern, Thomas is switching positions from linebacker to defensive end, a position he had never played before.
"It's literally a whole new position and learning a new position is hard. Watching the older guys is a big thing because they do it so well. That makes it easy on me to watch the different steps, how they attack the tackles, what they look for and how they get off the ball," Thomas said.
Just as much as his teammates have helped him, Coach UIrich says Thomas has had the same impact on them.
"His mentality is that he is going to go out and be just as good, if not better than these other guys, so the rest of these guys do not have any excuse to not go out and perform at the best level possible," Ulrich said.
Thomas is using what he learned battling cancer to trust the process of earning playing time.
"I had to work on the small things to get better and that is what I am doing right now. I am working on the small things that I can. I can't take big leaps because if I do then I might forget a technique or a movement, so I am just taking small steps and gaining ground every single day," Thomas said.
As for his prosthetic leg...
"I'm playing against bigger guys and I'm going more full speed, so right now it is doing great and I am getting better every day," Thomas said.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.