Football: Western's Da'Shawn Thomas profiled by Stephen Brunt

To have the incomparable Steve Brunt writing on CIS football, well, it's a treat. He added some more texture to the Da'Shawn Thomas story at Western. Who knew the running back/slotback's uncle was J.T. Thomas, who started at cornerback on Pittsburgh's famed Steel Curtain defence of the 1970s?

"Three years ago, he was on a Greyhound bus, despondent, heading back to Georgia from a junior college in Kansas City, where he lasted only a few days before homesickness kicked in. 'I missed my mom,' he says. 'I missed my girlfriend. It was 36 hours on the bus, but it was so worth it.'

"Last season he was a professional football player, stuck on the practice roster of the Toronto Argonauts, learning hard lessons about the realities of the business.

"Now he's here, having just turned 22, reborn as a college player, excelling for a Mustangs team that challenged for the Vanier Cup last season and seems again a serious contender for the national championship. The CIS allows former pros to play, deducting one year of university eligibility for each pro season."

Great publicity for CIS football.

Related:
Big man on campus; Da’Shawn Thomas has taken a roundabout route from high school to junior college to the Toronto Argonauts to the Western Ontario Mustangs. What a journey it's been (Stephen Brunt, globesports.com)