Above all else, Terrell Thomas should be remembered for his 2013 season.
After coming back from his third ACL tear, the Giants cornerback completed a full 16-game season, highlighted by a pick and 58 tackles out of the slot position. His hope was to catch on with another team after a full offseason of recovery, but that never happened outside of a brief training camp stint with the Seahawks.
On Thursday, Thomas announced his retirement through the Giants organization, calling it quits after six seasons and 60 games played. He had 12 career interceptions and 235 tackles.
"I thought I had two more years," Thomas said, via a team release when asked about his final NFL game. "I thought I was about to be a top free agent and continue my career for two more years and show God's grace. But He had a different plan for me."
The former second-round pick out of USC told the team's website that he was set to have an active free agency in March of 2014 but could not get his knee approved by team doctors.
"I thought I was going to have an active free agency," Thomas said. "The number one thing was the doctors would not approve my knee. Every team, G.M., coaches, they loved me and wanted me, and thought I had a great year after coming back from all the ACL injuries. They thought that I would be better last year. But the doctors wouldn't approve me."
Although he counts that as a disappointment, Giants fans will remember Thomas as a team leader amid a miserable 2013 season where the team started 0-6. They finished 7-9 in no small part thanks to Thomas' play on defense. Though he couldn't control the end of his career, he went out the way he'd like to be remembered.
"That is probably the hardest part that I had to deal with," Thomas said. "That I was on the verge of being a very great player. The Giants, coach (former cornerbacks coach Peter) Giunta, coach (safeties coach David) Merritt, (former defensive coordinator) Perry Fewell and Tom Coughlin really instilled confidence in me and made me believe in myself and really brought out the best of me as a football player. I just felt like I left something out there. I felt that I had a lot to prove for myself and the organization."
The latest Around The NFL Podcast welcomes Malcolm Butler to the show and plays a free agency edition of "Who Do You Trust?" Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
