Complete Game Program Feature Archive
By Robert Sampson, WKU Athletics
Since arriving on the WKU campus in 2010 and first seeing game action in 2011, senior Cam Thomas has been a consistent presence in the WKU lineup.
By Robert Sampson, WKU Athletics
Since arriving on the WKU campus in 2010 and first seeing game action in 2011, senior Cam Thomas has been a consistent presence in the WKU lineup.
It's a change for Thomas, a Jim Thorpe Award Watchlist and Senior Bowl Watchlist selection, to stay in one place. He is used to moving around, having spent time at multiple high schools throughout his prep career.
But those moves, much like the support system that put him through that path of moves, has been the necessary rock to help him evolve into the leader and man he has desired to become.
"The most important thing in my life is family," said Thomas. "Everything I do revolves around my family."
Thomas, a native of Paterson, New Jersey, has seen tough times.
"Growing up in the area I grew up in Patterson, there is not a lot of good...," said Thomas. "I use the hardness of the area. I don't let things affect me. Negativity or adversity. I face adversity. I love the tough games. Everything that goes wrong in my life, I face it with a smile because I've been through worse than what I am going through. The only thing that fazes me is when something is going on with family.
"I love smiling because my mother says that is the only thing that people can't take away from me."
No one has been present for Thomas more than his mother.
"My mother is my rock, my foundation," said Thomas. "She took the reigns and made sure I grew up as a man. Everything I do, I put my family first.
"My mother kept me out of the streets and made sure that school came first," said Thomas. "I grew up in a church going family. She made us go to church every Sunday. It was church, school and practices. She took me to practices, she didn't miss one."
She rarely misses his games now either.
Despite telling her that some games are too far to come to. Constance Fletcher, Thomas' mother, finds her way to most games.
"She pops up and surprise me," said Thomas. "No matter how the funds are, she knows how important it is being the first man to go to college in my family and playing at a Division One school. She knows how important it is to me. Before I run out on the field, I look out and do our signal to each other. She is into the game. She gives me every detail afterwards. She is my biggest critic."
The signal, a tap of the chest twice and blown kiss in the air, precedes every game.
"She is a fierce competitor," said Thomas of his mother, who was nearly an Olympic athlete. "She pushes me in athletics. She taught me my competitive nature."
Thomas' competitive nature has made him one of the premier defenders in Conference USA.
He finished the 2013 season with 41 tackles (32 solo), 1.5 tackles for loss, one sack, five interceptions, ten PBU, one QBH and a fumble recovery, earned First Team All C-USA honors from Phil Steele and Athlon Sports in the preseason.
In 2013, Thomas ranked Top 20 nationally in passes defended (15) and interceptions (5) and is one of seven returning defensive backs in the nation that posted a tackles-to-total passes defended ration of less than 3.0, meaning opposing offenses keep the ball away from his side. Thomas' 2.73 ratio of tackles-to-total passes defended ranks sixth among returning defensive backs in 2014.
With Thomas starting every game, WKU finished as the No. 10 ranked passing efficiency defense nationally and No. 14 overall total defense.
Thomas' success on the field and growth as a man can also be traced to his grandmother, Mozzela Fletcher, and grandfather, Connie Fletcher, among many others in his extended family.
His grandfather, now deceased, was also a key component of Thomas' life in recent years.
"The last five years of his life, he was diagnosed with cancer. That is when we became really close," said Thomas. "We used to sit on the porch and he told me he was afraid of frogs because they spit. That was the only fear he had... He taught me how to become the man of the family. When I look back on those five years, he knew I had to take over. Since then, it's been me doing that."
Thomas has taken over on the field as one of the premier defensive backs in the history of WKU football, but he has also learned how to take over the most important things in his life, being there for his family.
"There is nothing I wouldn't do for my family."
