Thomas lasts just 12 minutes with Saints
By Bob Heist
Louisiana Gannett News
METAIRIE — After signing a free-agent contract with the Saints, the legend of Walter Thomas had reached Bunyan-esque proportions.
And on paper, that's about what the 6-4, 374-pound defensive tackle looked like entering the team's weekend rookie mini-camp.
A recruit of LSU coach Les Miles while he was at Oklahoma State, Thomas burst onto the draft scene in early April. During a phenomal workout at Mississippi State's pro day, he reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.9 seconds, bench pressed 225 pounds 27 times and displayed a vertical leap of over 30 inches.
Thomas was even pictured doing a front flip in a New York Times pre-draft story of little-known prospects.
But the one thing Thomas — who failed out of Oklahoma State and lasted just two games into his career at Northwest Mississippi Community College — never had to display before the draft was his physical conditioning. That came during the first day of mini-camp on Saturday morning, and it didn't take Saints coach Sean Payton long to separate fact from fiction.
"He had a brief career," Payton said with a chuckle on Sunday.
Exactly 12 minutes into his first workout, Thomas surrendered to the heat and went to the trainer's room for treatment. That's when Payton made the call and cut him.
"As a free agent signed after the draft, there's no way of measuring where he was conditioning-wise," Payton said. "It was a wait-and-see situation, and we saw it when we saw it."
It was a long shot for Thomas to make the team, or even be among the 83 players the Saints take to training camp, but he was an interesting name to watch. Now it's back to reality as Thomas prepares to face a trial this summer in Senatobia, Miss., for conspiracy to commit robbery.
"I believe he was the quickest cut that I've been associated with," Payton said. "But the reality is, this isn't easy and it isn't for everybody. I think he fits into that."
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