Lions Add Former Oregon And Chiefs WR De’Anthony Thomas
The BC Lions announced today the signing of American WR/KR De’Anthony Thomas to the roster.
Thomas, 29, brings six years of NFL experience to the den. Selected in round four (124th overall) by Kansas City in the 2014 Draft, Thomas played a role on both offence and special teams with the Chiefs, suiting up in 61 games from 2014-19.
The Los Angeles native racked up 1,156 all-purpose yards, including 113 yards and a touchdown on the ground, in his rookie season.
2017 marked the first time in his career where Thomas suited up in all 16 regular season contests. He would record 14 receptions for 143 yards and two touchdowns that season.
Following his release from Kansas City in October 2019, Thomas landed with the Baltimore Ravens and suited up in the final eight regular season games before recording three kickoff returns for 71 yards in the AFC Divisional Round game against Tennessee.
After opting out of the 2020 season due to COVID, Thomas was released by the Ravens in January 2021.
A star in both football and track at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles, Thomas was one of California’s most highly-recruited high school players.
In 28 games over three seasons at Oregon, he recorded 4,122 all-purpose yards- including 1,372 yards on 52 kickoff returns- and scored 34 of his 38 touchdowns on offence.
Thomas scored two majors and had 312 all-purpose yards in Oregon’s Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin in January 2012. One year later, he returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown as the Ducks took down Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.
The dynamic athlete also starred in track at Oregon, finishing second in the 4 X 100 and fifth in the individual 200 metres at the 2012 Pac-12 Championships.