The guy who sealed yesterday’s Dolphins win over the Patriots was still introducing himself to teammates.
And if he had been a little bit later answering his phone, he might not have had the chance.
According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, new Dolphins safety Michael Thomas nearly missed his chance to intercept Tom Brady in the fourth quarter because it took him too long to check his messages.
The Dolphins were ready to sign him off the 49ers practice squad, but needed to know he was coming. His agent called and texted. The messages sat there, unanswered on Monday morning.
Another 30 minutes and they might have moved on, but Thomas finally got in touch and got on a plane.
“I’m glad my sister was there. We hurried up and threw stuff in the bag,” Thomas said. “I made the difficult call to [49ers coach Jim] Harbaugh and [General Manager] Trent Baalke, talked to [defensive coordinator] Vic Fangio and [secondary coach] Ed Donatell, but it was something I had to do. I had to take a chance on myself to prove I can play instead of just staying on the practice squad.”
He did just that, breaking up a pass on first down and picking off Tom Brady on fourth down, showing that getting some reception late is better than not at all.