Some nicknames just don’t fit. But Hollis Thomas and Tank? C’mon, that could easily have been on his birth certificate.
A 6-foot, 300-pound defensive tackle, Thomas came out of Northern Illinois, a small Division 1 program, in 1996 with a goal to play in the NFL. Scouts, however, weren’t showing up on campus armed with clipboards and stopwatches.
Thomas solved that problem with a plan and postage stamps.
“My agent at the time said, ‘Put a little highlight reel together and send it to all 30 teams,’” Thomas said. “I got the audio-visual department to make me one.