When Solomon Thomas wanted to reveal his college commitment in 2014, a hat didn’t feel quite right. Known for his wide frame around Coppell High School in Texas, Thomas was never really a hat person.
Thomas ranked as the No. 41 player in the class and was heavily pursued by Stanford and Arkansas. After seeing close friends and competitors announce their decisions during celebratory National Signing Day events, he decided to do the same as he committed to the Cardinal.
His mom had a little fern tree that seemed to perfectly play into the unofficial mascot for Stanford football. Flanked by his parents, Thomas pulled out the tree and a pair of glasses with tape in the middle to commit to “Nerd Nation.” The signing day gimmick went viral as Thomas inked his football letter of intent alongside eight of his closest friends with offers from Yale to Grand View.
“It was a really cool moment,” said Thomas, now a defensive lineman with the Dallas Cowboys. “Afterwards, being in the gym with all the guys who I played football with at Coppell who were such close friends with me, we were so proud of each other taking that next step.”
For decades, National Signing Day was one of the premier events in college football. Each February, hundreds of players would ink their signatures on a National Letter of Intent and coaching staffs around the country would breathe a sigh of relief.
The stories from days past have become legendary. There’s the case of the late Alex Collins, whose mother refused to sign his NLI to Arkansas because she wanted him to go to Miami. Landon Collins committed to Alabama, only for his mom to say he made a mistake and should have picked LSU. Then, there’s Jimmy Clausen committing to Notre Dame after stepping out of a…
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