The mother of new Jaguars draft pick Brian Thomas Jr. was asked ‘how far’ her family had come to reach the NFL Draft in Detroit – and she gave an extremely literal answer that has since gone viral.
Thomas Jr., a wide receiver out of LSU, was selected No. 23 overall by Jacksonville before his mother, Sondra, spoke to ABC on camera.
‘Sondra, how far has this family come?,’ she was asked by reporter Laura Rutledge.
‘We came from Baton Rouge, Louisiana,’ Sondra deadpanned.
Rutledge quickly moved onto her next question after the slightly awkward moment.
Sondra Thomas gave an extremely deadpan answer while on national TV during the draft
Her son, Brian Thomas Jr., was selected No. 23 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars
Jacksonville traded down six spots and then drafted Thomas Jr. with the 23rd overall pick, continuing to build around franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Adding the 6-foot-3, 209-pound speedster should help offset the loss of Calvin Ridley to division rival Tennessee in free agency and give the Jaguars a chance to have a legitimate No. 1 receiver for the first time since Jimmy Smith retired following the 2005 season.
Thomas led the Bowl Subdivision with 17 receiving touchdowns last season. He finished with 68 catches for 1,177 yards, averaging a whopping 17.3 yards a reception and 34.9 yards on his 17 scores.
Thomas Jr. wore a grey suit, silver chain, bowtie and sunglasses to his big draft night in Detroit
‘Just my ability to use my speed, be able to get open and create space on defenders,’ Thomas said after he was picked. ‘I would say that’s a big role I played.’
Thomas joins a position group that includes Christian Kirk, Gabe Davis and Zay Jones. No one would be surprised to see the newcomer become Lawrence´s go-to guy at some point, maybe even in 2024.
‘It´s a stacked room,’ Thomas said. ‘Just want to get in there and work and learn from all those guys and be the best I can be and work hard and do the things that I can do best, put in the work and see where the work takes me.’
