Middletown grad Cam Thomas may go high in NFL Draft

One pound. That's all it took to start Cam Thomas on a path that could result in an NFL career.

Experts believe the cornerback and former Middletown High School star will be picked in the mid to late rounds during next week's NFL Draft.

That is something Thomas would never have fathomed growing up in Paterson, New Jersey, or during his freshman year at Brandywine High School when he played quarterback on the junior varsity team.

The season before, as an eighth-grader, Thomas was ruled one pound too heavy to be eligible at quarterback in his youth football league. So he ended up playing tight end and linebacker, and that's where he first realized that he was good on defense.

"That threw me for a loop," Thomas said. "I had always been a quarterback, and that's all I wanted to play. I liked playing defense, but I still wanted to be a quarterback."

Thomas said he wasn't able to see "the bigger picture" when he was younger. That included his reluctance to move to Delaware with his mother, Constance Fletcher. Thomas wanted to stay near his friends in Paterson, where he was a star quarterback.

Fletcher, however, wanted a better, safer life for her son.

"It was just the area," Thomas said. "It kept getting worse. There were killings, drugs, negativity, and my mom felt that no good could come from me staying there. I hated leaving because I was going to play quarterback at one of the top high schools in the state.

"My mom saw a bigger picture, and there was no discussion."

Then came the position change. It happened innocently enough. Thomas said it was during a one-on-one drill during training camp as a 10th-grader while he was competing for the quarterback job on the varsity team.

"I don't know why, but I just told my coach that I'm going to cornerback [for that drill] and I'm going to shut everybody down," he said. "I covered three wide receivers, and none of them caught a pass."

His coach noticed and suggested a position switch. Thomas said it was the best move he ever made. He transferred to Middletown for his junior season in 2007, led the Cavaliers to the state championship and back to the playoffs as a senior, while staying at cornerback.

"That was his best position," Middletown coach Mark DelPercio said. "We'd play him some at wide receiver, but he was already one of the best cornerbacks in the state."

Thomas further developed those skills during an extra year of high school at Milford Academy in New York and for five years at Western Kentucky (he redshirted as a freshman).

And NFL teams took notice, in part because Thomas has the ideal size for a cornerback at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds. That's especially true in an era were many wide receivers are at least 6-3.

"That's what every team I've talked to tells me," Thomas said. "They love my size, my ball skills, my ability to play against bigger receivers and play them one-on-one. They tell me they can see me as a cornerback, nickel, safety and special teams.

"I welcome that with open arms."

Thomas sees himself in the mold of Seattle's Richard Sherman, a fifth-rounder in 2011 who quickly blossomed into arguably the best cornerback in the NFL.

Thomas had 45 tackles and two interceptions his senior year at Western Kentucky. He played much of that season with a hamstring injury. He said his draft stock suffered somewhat because opponents were reluctant to throw in his direction after his junior season, when he led the Sun Belt Conference with five interceptions.

Thomas also admitted that he wasn't as aggressive as he should have been helping out on tackles because of his hamstring.

"I mostly tried to be a leader and mentor to the younger guys," Thomas said.

Thomas was a leader and mentor at Middletown, too. DelPercio said one of the first phone calls he received came from Thomas the night Middletown won the state championship in 2011 and 2012.

"I still have those messages on my phone," DelPercio said.

DelPercio was able to see Thomas play two seasons ago when Western Kentucky played at Army in West Point, New York. He said he was talking to Thomas after the game when an elderly woman came up to DelPercio and told him how nice Thomas is, and how he often plays with her grandkids.

Thomas then told him that the woman is the wife of the university president.

"I always tell pro scouts that story when they ask about him," DelPercio said. "He's the friendliest guy you'll ever meet off the field. A real infectious smile, someone people gravitate to. On the field, he's what NFL teams are looking for. He's got the size and the cover abilities to play in the NFL."

Despite seven state championships, DelPercio said Middletown has never had a player drafted by an NFL team.

Thomas said he hopes to change that. He'll be watching the draft at his mother's house in Newark. He'll be paying close attention on Saturday afternoon for Rounds 4-7. He'll have several friends and family members over, but Thomas will be focused on two things – the TV and the phone that will never leave his hand.

"People always ask me if I'm anxious or nervous," Thomas said. "And I tell them I'm really calm about it. I'm ready for the process to be over. It's been a long path for me to get here, and now I'm ready to take that next step."

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on Twitter @Mfranknfl.

NFL DRAFT

On ESPN, NFL Network

Round 1: 8 p.m. Thursday

Rounds 2-3: 7 p.m., May 1

Rounds 4-7: Noon, May 2