Less than five months after Philadelphia made him its first-round pick in the 1998 draft, Tra Thomas, ready or not, was starting at left tackle when the season opened against Seattle.
Turns out, he was ready.
"I think one of the major challenges was getting used to the speed of the game," said Thomas. "Coming from Florida State, I was used to working with a lot of top-notch pass rushers, so I think I was equipped for it."
After he was named to College and Pro Football Newsweekly's All-Rookie team, Thomas was selected to play in the Pro Bowl three years later.
"To be recognized amongst your peers and with the media for the efforts that you're putting out on the field, it was a very good feeling," said Thomas. "I'd worked very hard to get there and it was definitely something that I wanted to repeat."
And repeat, he did, concluding two of the next three seasons on the Pro Bowl roster. But was getting league-wide recognition more challenging because offensive linemen may be the most anonymous players on the field?
"It was more difficult because you have (St. Louis') Orlando Pace and (Seattle's) Walter Jones there," laughed Thomas. "They were going every year. Once you get in like that, and you have a name like these guys, they're going to always be there. So it was always me and (Washington's) Chris Samuels and (Dallas') Flozell Adams battling it out for that third spot."
Team-wise, the Eagles were battling as well. Beginning in 2001, three consecutive seasons ended on the short side of the NFC Championship Game scoreboard. However, in 2004, Philadelphia finished the conference title game with a 27-14 win over Atlanta, and a date with New England in Super Bowl XXXIX.
"We had been getting there, getting there, and we would just battle, battle, battle, to get to the game and lose. And then to finally actually win and be able to go to (Jacksonville) Florida and play in the Super Bowl was just major jump for me. I was just so excited to be able to do that. And then the excitement wore away and I had to think about how many tickets I had to purchase," Thomas said with a laugh. "But it was cool. We really enjoyed it.
"It was such a big week leading up to the game, all the media and all the different festivities that they had down there for us. It was a tough time for Jacksonville though. Florida had just been hit with like five hurricanes back-to-back, so a lot of the hotels were closed down. I remember my wife came down and had to actually rent a home along with Hugh Douglas' wife. We made the best of it, and I think it was such a great experience to be down there for that."
An experience that wasn't as great for Thomas, his teammates, and their families was the game. The Patriots beat the Eagles, 24-21.
"It just seemed like we didn't adjust well in that game. We had our moments. I think we went into that game expecting their defense to do something totally different than what they showed. They showed a 3-4 defense the entire time going up to that game, and he (Patriots coach Bill Belichick) changed it to a five-man front. It was just a totally different scheme than what we were prepared for."
Playing in 166 games during 11 seasons (1998-08) with the Eagles – only Hall of Fame center/linebacker Chuck Bednarik played in more on the offensive line – Thomas retired after spending part of the 2009 season with Jacksonville. What's What aspect of his career provides Thomas with the most pride?
"I think the length of time that I played. The average NFL career is only 3.5 years, and to be able to triple that, quadruple that, really, is just an accomplishment in itself," said Thomas, who was named to the Eagles' 75th Anniversary Team. "I can't point out just one season. I can't point out just one game. It was all just a great experience."
Thomas embarked on a new experience earlier this year when he opened 7 Deuce Sports (www.7deucesports.com), a training facility in Medford, New Jersey.
"I've always wanted to do some type of training. Originally, I just wanted to do some technique training for offensive linemen, but I went around to different facilities and tried to offer my services and everybody turned me down or gave me so many stipulations that it just wasn't worth it to move into their space. So my wife stayed on me and we found this place out in Medford," Thomas said.
"Even though it has a nice aggressive feel to it, it's not just for athletes. We have adult fitness classes where 85 percent of my clients are women, a youth program where we train kids 9 to 12 years old. We have our high school program where we're working with the high school youth, and college athletes.
"I enjoy seeing people get into the shape that they want to be in, and also watching our athletes that we've trained go out and do well. We're putting out a nice product where everybody enjoys the workouts and they're getting the results that they want."
Thomas is also in his second year as a television football analyst for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. He appears on Thursday evening's Daily News Live, and on the Eagles Pregame Live and Eagles Postgame Live shows.
"It keeps me into the game and allows me to sit down and watch film, critique it, talk about different techniques, and just try to give an inside perspective. I like being able to show people what's going on so they can just appreciate the smaller parts of the game."
