New San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Solomon Thomas spent his middle school years in Texas, and college at Stanford, but prior to that, he spent five years in Australia. Recently, Thomas returned to Australia, as part of a promotional tour for the Stanford-Rice game that will take place there on August 26. While there, he visited the school where he attended kindergarten.
He also made an appearance on the Sunday Footy Show, which covers National Rugby League. The video above shows him running through a drill for fun. He got a couple through the hole. The funniest part of the video might be at the end when the professional rugby league player picks one up and just throws it through with relative ease.
If NRL sounds familiar, it’s because that’s the league Jarryd Hayne left to pursue a career in the NFL. He signed with the San Francisco 49ers, and while he had some great performances in the preseason, he struggled to do much of anything in the regular season. When the 49ers fired Jim Tomsula and hired Chip Kelly, Hayne left rather than learn a new playbook. He has since returned to rugby league.
The 49ers are in the middle of their offseason workout program, but Thomas is not allowed to participate until early June. The NFL requires rookies that have not graduated be finished with final exams before they take part in everything but rookie minicamp. Stanford is on the quarter system, and because finals don’t end until June 14, Thomas has to wait until then. The 49ers minicamp ends on June 15, so he might get in a day or two of that.
Thomas is able to talk with coaches over the phone, and has the playbook and practice film on an iPad. He can’t participate in practice, but it at least gives him a chance to review what is going on and familiarize himself with the playbook.