Football
Favorite athlete: Jalen Darden
Favorite team: Jacksonville Jaguars
Favorite memory competing in sports: When I was playing little league and I got the game-winning kick return.
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: The funniest moment is when I had to use the bathroom during a play and I couldn’t run full speed.
Music on playlist: Lil Baby, Lil Durk, Gunna and NBA YoungBoy
Future plans: Go to college to get my degree and go to the NFL
Words to live by: “Earned, Respect and Loyalty”
One goal before turning 30: Make sure my parents don’t have to work again
One thing people don’t know about me: I have a dog
By GORDON GLANTZ
Ever put on a coat you haven’t worn for a while and realize that there is not only money in your pocket, but a substantial amount?
That’s how Harry S. Truman football coach Ben Johnson felt when Sincere Thomas, a recent transfer from Conwell-Egan, showed up for his senior year.
“Yes, absolutely – a 100 percent,” said Johnson. “He’s a coach’s dream. As a coach, you always want a kid who has heart and tenacity. A kid who understands the rules, is a team leader and is coachable. He is everything you desire in a player.”
Thomas was certainly conflicted about switching schools for his final year, but thought it through and decided to join many of his old Pop Warner teammates and go get it.
“Actually, yes, I was looking to just come in and do my thing,” said Thomas. “The kids that were already at Truman, I grew up playing with them. It was just carryover, once I got there. It’s almost like they were just waiting for me to come. Other than that, it fit perfectly.”
And as soon as he hit the practice field, there was no doubt that his new team had found something special.
“He jumped right off the gridiron at us, so to speak,” said Johnson.
Although he is no more than 5-7 and in the range of 160-165 pounds, Thomas deploys both natural skill (including speed in the 4.4 range) and the heart of a lion to make him a lethal multi-purpose offensive weapon.
“He’s not the world’s biggest kid, but he certainly plays like he is the biggest kid on the field,” said Johnson, whose coaching staff was able to focus on what Thomas could do and not what he couldn’t do.
“They just let me work in open space, and let me do what I do,” said Thomas.
Thomas was grateful to be featured in the offense of his new school.
“I just didn’t fit in how (Conwell-Egan’s) system worked,” he explained. “It was a hard to decision (to transfer), but everything happens for a reason. That’s what I always say.”
The game plan, when it comes to utilizing Thomas, is both simple and yet complex – line him up at various positions and get the ball in his hands.
In a six-game season, he caught 35 passes for 848 yards and 16 touchdowns. He also carried the ball 11 times for another 319 yards and 5 touchdowns from scrimmage. Add in another 185 yards in returns – along with a touchdown – and we are looking at 1,352 all-purpose yards and 22 touchdowns.
He also had five touchdowns in one game against Reading.
“He’s just a phenomenal player,” said Johnson. “He’s a real playmaker on the offensive side of the ball. We can line him up at running back. We can line him up at slot receiver. He’s our kickoff returner. He’s our punt returner. And, he’s also a defensive back when we need him to be. He’s a very fast kid and a very good athlete.”
Leading By Example
Just like he plays bigger than he looks, Thomas leads without being an in-your-face yeller and a screamer.
“He’s not one of those loud kids,” said Johnson. “He’s a quiet person and he leads by example. He will address the team if it’s needed, but he believes that his actions speak louder than his words. If he does it, they’ll follow.”
That much was obvious from the first meeting between coach and player.
“When I first talked to him, I introduced myself to him, and he said, ‘Coach, I don’t do a lot of talking. I let my actions do the talking.’ That was really impressive, in this day and age, having a kid say that,” said Johnson.
Thomas remembers that conversation as if it happened yesterday.
“Yes, I do,” he said. “That was my big point that I was trying to get across. I wanted him to know that I didn’t just come here to be on the football team. I wanted him to know that I love football and that I was really passionate. I told other people before I even got there what my goal was to do. I wanted to have a successful season and be true to my word about everything I told them.”
Johnson added: “With leadership, we talked about what it means to be a leader - how to be a leader, how to handle certain situations. Sometimes, as a leader, you have to make unpopular decisions or do things that will make you feel uncomfortable, but you have to understand that there is a reason behind what you are doing. He lived up it.”
Thomas concurs that, as he learned the landscape at his new school, he did develop into a leader.
“I actually did,” he said. “I’m not the loudest person. I stick to myself. But throughout the season, my coach showed me that working hard and following through really taught me how to become more of a leader.
“My teammates were receptive. They respected me as a leader. They knew me since we were all little kids, so that bond didn’t go anywhere.”
Falling Into Spring
The best-laid plans of coming to Truman for a senior season were placed in jeopardy by COVID, with the season being on and off multiple times in the fall.
“Honestly, it was so unpredictable,” said Thomas. “One minute, we would be practicing and then we would be shut down the next week. Then, after we would start practicing again, something else would come up, where someone in our school would have it, and we would have to shut down again. It was hard, not knowing if we were going to have a season or not.”
The Tigers were able to hit the gridiron this spring – along with other schools unable to play a traditional fall season – and made it to the league championship before falling to Chester, 26-18.
“We accomplished our goal of getting there,” said Johnson. “The best thing was that this kids still got to play. We went the distance. We came up a little short, but that is what it’s all about. We still gave these kids an opportunity to do what it is that they love to do. Outside of academics, it’s to play football.”
For his part, Thomas put up his eye-popping numbers despite feeling a little strange playing with a mask.
“It was a little bit hard breathing, but I just got through it,” he said. “After that, we went on to have a very successful season.”
Early Adversity
Thomas played basketball at Conwell-Egan, but decided to stick with just football after his freshman year.
“It has really helped me just being able to train for one sport because my biggest problem was just gaining weight,” said Thomas. “Once I started having my own trainer telling me what to eat, I was better able to retain my weight. It just became like an everyday thing. Once I picked up on that, my work ethic became even crazier.”
A big part of that may have been an injury to his right knee that required surgery. It happened in his freshman year at Conwell-Egan.
On the comeback trail, he developed a bond with former Conwell-Egan trainer Jack Kalinowski, and he continues training with him to this day.
“That was a setback, because I never had surgery before,” said Thomas. “I didn’t know how long it would take, or how long it would take to recover from it. That was a hard time because I really didn’t think my leg was going to get back to where it should be or was never going to be able to get back to my full potential.”
All Class
Off the field, Thomas is just as impressive – and just as unstoppable -- as he is on it.
“It’s the same thing with the academics,” said Johnson. “He has his free time and he uses his free time wisely. He puts his best foot forward and works hard for everything he has. He’s a true definition of a blue collar individual.”
Although Johnson does not teach at Truman, he monitors the grades of all of his players.
“I keep very close track of that, and he is a phenomenal student. He has a 3.65 GPA,” said the coach. “He is the true definition of a student-athlete. He also does things in his spare time in the community. No character issues and comes from a great and supportive family. His numbers on the field are the same as his impressive numbers in the classroom.
“This is a kid who works hard, both athletically and academically. Both of those two go hand in hand. He gives 100 percent with football and 100 percent in the classroom.”
Thomas fully understands the importance of not dropping the ball when off the field.
“In order to be able to do it, you have to have to have the grades,” said Thomas. “A lot of people think like, ‘Oh, I just have to play football and I can make it out.’ No, you have to have the grades, plus the talent to go along with it. The grades come first. You are a student before a player.”
He credits counselor Rachel Zawisza for steering him in the right direction.
“She was huge from the start from when I came to Truman,” said Thomas. “She showed me how it all worked with everything. She set up my classes, so that I had the right requirements for the Division I schools. She was, basically, like another mom or a parent to me. She really helped me. Whatever I needed, she was always there to help me.”
All’s Well That Ends Well
Thomas added that initially convincing his parents, Yalonda and Sam, of the benefits of switching schools was a tough sell.
“I want to thank my mom and dad, because it was a really hard to decision to make to leave Conwell-Egan,” said Thomas. “We were thinking about this, about how it might be the biggest thing I ever had to do in my life. They started to see that this was going to get me somewhere. They started to get used to it.”
While the Truman Show will go on without its one-year wonder, the reverberations of his impact as both an electrifying athlete and stellar student will be felt for a while.
Said Johnson: “Week-in and week-out, he has put this team on his back. He’s completely unselfish and completely bought into the program. He’s just a true ideal of sportsmanship and leadership as a role player and role model. I could go on and on. He is not perfect, but he’s great in every aspect of his life – in the classroom, on the field. He has leadership, even when no one is looking. He has a certain aura, and that’s to be great and to put his best foot forward.”
Sky Is The Limit
In terms of the next landing spot, the picture is a bit murky. Thomas is hearing from Division I schools (Temple, Rutgers, etc.) as a preferred walk-on -- and some at the Division II level -- but he is also considering going the prep school route to get more exposure.
“It’s all over the place,” said Thomas. “I’m just trying to stick with it and see if something else pops up.”
Wherever he does land, Johnson sees it as just another launching pad.
“The sky is the limit for him,” said Johnson. “He is a Division I caliber kid, but the sky is the limit for him. He is definitely going to land on his feet. He has some opportunities right now that he is exploring. There are several schools that have expressed interest. They are all reviewing how he can fit.”
If schools are pigeonholing Thomas because of his size, they could be making a mistake that will haunt them.
“When he lines up in between the lines, this kid is like a lion,” said Johnson. “He’s like a man among boys, to be frank. He can run in between the tackles but we can also get him out in open space catching the ball. He’s a very smart football player. He has a very high football IQ. It is a testament to him being a true student of the game. The kid puts in the work to be great.
“He does it all. This kid is going to be great, no matter what he does – in life, athletically, academically. He is going to be one of the biggest success stories out of Truman High School. I personally believe that. His attitude, his persona – everything he has displayed with us – lets us know that this kid is going to be great.”
