Is he unlucky, have no common sense, a habit of being in the wrong place at the wrong time or a problem child – who’s image is being protected by his football program and his head coach?
That seems to be the questions that arise when people think about the No. 3, Oregon Ducks’ starting quarterback Darron Thomas’s character.
There is no denying his athletic talent and his skills as both a play caller and leader of a top-ranked BCS team.
But as a person, there are a lot of questions people like to speculate and question about the junior quarterback out of Aldine High School in Houston, TX.
Maybe he should just stay out of vehicles with teammates
Over the last two years Thomas has been present on three occasions while a teammate had a run-in with the police – most recently in June when Cliff Harris was pulled over on for driving 118 mph down Interstate 5 after 4 a.m while returning from picking up Thomas from the airport.
In the police video that was recently released the Oregon State Patrol Officer asks Harris, “Who’s got the pot?” Harris responded with, “We smoked it all.” Later in the conversation Harris said that only his cousin had been smoking the marijuana.
Both Harris and Thomas have both said that Thomas was asleep before being pulled over by the OSP officer.
Thomas was returning from a visit to Bristol, Conn. and making appearances on multiple ESPN programs.
Before being sent on their way back to Eugene, Harris was cited for speeding and driving while suspended.
This wasn’t the first time Thomas was with Harris while being pulled over and cited for speeding; on May 1st Thomas was rumored to be with Harris when he was pulled over in Eugene.
The first run-in with the law was back in June of 2010 when he was a passenger of a car driven by former Ducks starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who was thought to be a Heisman candidate entering last season, in Springfield, Ore. when the vehicle was pulled over and Masoli was ticketed for driving with a suspended license – like the Harris incidents. Masoli was also charged with possession of less then a ounce of marijuana.
Oregon Head Coach Chip Kelly dismissed Masoli from the team after the citation and Masoli later transferred to Ole Miss.
While these are all eyesores, which bring forth a lot of questions about Thomas’s character – is it worth considering him as a problem child or a problem?
Most people in the Eugene/Springfield community would say no.
On many occasions locals have said they have dealt with the quarterback and he has always been polite, considerate and always willing to stop for autographs for fans and especially young children who look up to him.
After talking to teammates and other team officials I have yet had anyone question his character –in fact they all say the opposite. Everyone is quick to talk about how great of a guy he is, his outstanding work ethic and there is no denying that he is the leader of their football team.
Kelly talks about Thomas as if he was the savior of a program that was in the dumps, but truth is when Thomas took over the Ducks where coming off of a Pac-10 championship and a loss in the Rose Bowl.
It is hard to dispute his skills as a quarterback and his ability to step-up in a big game. He did lead Oregon to their best season in school history and played possibly his best game of his career in the BCS National Championship game in the loss to Auburn last season.
So, while he has been in a few sticky situations it may not be enough to consider him as a person of bad character.
Thomas himself has said that he is going to learn from what he called mistakes, by being with people while they were pulled over by the authorities.
As you put it in perspective, it looks as if it may be the case that he was a person in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Thomas and the third-ranked Ducks travel to Arlington, TX. to play LSU on September 3 at the new Cowboys Stadium.
Alan K. Fox can be reached at alanfoxjr@gmail.com and on Twitter @alankfox
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