The year was 1997. James "J.T" Thomas Sr. was back home in Florida after a stint playing linebacker for the Albany Firebirds, a semipro football team. J.T. Sr.'s dreams of an NFL career were curtailed by bilateral compartment syndrome, which nearly forced him to get both of his legs amputated. While recovering from his injury and plotting his next move, he decided to pour his energy into figuring out how to seduce his then-nine-year old son, J.T., into loving the gridiron.
J.T. Thomas had been playing on a pee-wee team in Fort Lauderdale at the time, but decided to quit that season because he didn't like the drills that the coaches were making the kids do.