“I’ve been waiting on this dream for 36 years. Thank God it happened today.” Four years ago at the young age of 51, Joe Thomas, Sr., enrolled at South Carolina State University along with his son, Joe Thomas, Jr. The younger Thomas left college early to go pro – now playing for the Green Bay Packers. The younger Thomas, however, just wanted to fulfill a life long dream of playing college football.
Joe, Sr. played some high school football back in the day, but never had a chance to play college ball. He had a learning disability and he didn’t feel confident enough to go down that road. Instead, he had a career in the construction business. He owned his own company and built many homes… until the recession hit in 2008. A few years later he followed in his son’s footsteps and enrolled as an engineering major at SCSU.
Joe, Sr. was an “on again, off again” practice player at SCSU. He was unable to commit more time because, in addition to being a full time student, he also worked 40 hours a week at his job. With that being said, Joe, Sr. held out for his dream of playing in a college football game.
And, on senior day (no pun intended), 55-year old Joe Sr. stepped onto the field with his 81-year-old mother. He was then given the opportunity to get into the game. He was called on to run the ball on four separate occasions in the final game of the year.
It should be noted that Joe, Sr. did not walk off the field under his own power. No, he was carried off the field by his teammates. “I felt like a hero,” he said of that moment. “It was the happiest day of my life.”
Joe’s Perspective: I think we should let Joe, Sr. speak for himself. “Never give up on your dreams. When other people tell you that you can’t do something, don’t listen to them. You have to drive forward.”
Your Turn: 1) Does Joe Thomas, Sr. motivate you to pursue your goals? 2) What are you goals and how can you accomplish them?
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He does motivate me to reach my goals. My goals are to go into law enforcement.
He does because it shows that no matter what and no matter your age you can achieve your goals. He is someone that im sure a lot of people look up to because he found away to do what hes always wanted.
I think that Joe Thomas Sr. does motivate me to pursue my goals because something may be not achievable does not mean it is impossible. No matter how difficult an obstacle is you can always overcome it.
Joe Thomas Sr. does motivate me to peruse my goals because he shows how nothing is impossible. My goal is to become successful in life.
Joe Thomas Sr. does motivate me to to pursue my goals because he overcomes the negativity people gave him. My goal in life is to be successful and overcome any obstacles that I might encounter in the process.
Joe Thomas Sr. is definitely inspiring. It is inspiring to see someone follow their dreams and actually succeed. If everyone was as motivated as Thomas Sr., then more people would be willing to follow their goals. I aspire to be successful in life just as Thomas Sr. was.
Yes Joe Thomas Sr. does motivate me to pursue my goals because it shows that no matter what and no matter your age you can achieve your goals. He is someone that I’m sure a lot of people look up to because he found away to do what hes always wanted.
It will never be too ate as long as you never give up. When I was younger I was so close to give up on my dreams and now i’m doing very well on acomplishing them. As long as you keep working on them you will achieve them.
yes he does, i love water-polo with a passion so reading about him and what just happen to me makes me wanna push my self harder and harder.
He does motivate me to reach my goals because no matter how old or athletic you have to work for your goals. My goal is to become professional basketball player I love the sport and I need to work harder and harder to get there
Yes it motivates me to go for my goals and never give up. My goals are to go to zones or double AAs again. I would work as hard as I could at practice and go to every practice.
1) Does Joe Thomas, Sr. motivate you to pursue your goals?
Yes he does because if a 55 year old can meet his goals i can to.
2) What are you goals and how can you accomplish them?
My goal for basketball this year is to regain my skills i lost during my rehab for knee surgery and get more playing time this year. I will bust my tail at practice and get extra practice outside of school.
He does motivate me to pursue some of my dreams that I might not get to while in school. I have many goals but there is just one that I am really focused on and it is to qualify for the 2018 state wrestling championships. I know exactly how I can accomplish that goal by working hard, never giving up when its just beginning to get hard, and try to out work my peers and teammates in the mat room and out.
Joe at. does inspire me to achieve my goals! One of my goals is to always try my best no matter what comes my way. I know I can accomplish that by reminding myself that anything is possible, for anyone.
Yes he does motivate me to pursue my goals. My goal is to live my best life and be positive as well as successful along the way.
Yes he does motivate me. Joe had many reasons not to believe in himself, but he kept on trying and eventually got where he wanted to be.
My goals are to keep good steady grades, as well as keep a good positive effort in my extra curricular activities.
Joe Thomas Sr. does motivate me to to pursue my goals because he overcomes the negativity people gave him. My goal in life is to be successful and overcome any obstacles that I might encounter in the process
Yes he does motivate me. And he does make wanna achieve my goals which are getting better as a all around person on and off the court. Do the right thing at all time is going to help me achieve this goal
Yes it motivates me to go for my goals and never give up. My goals are to go to zones or double AAs again. Also to move up to gold group by nest year. I would work as hard as I could at practice and go to every practice and give it my all.
Yes. Becoming a state champ and I can only be that with hard work.
How did inspire me he didn’t care about his age or how tough things got he went for it and managed to succeed what he dreamed of from a long time. My goal for now is to get a scholarship later on to have my own business and not depend on anyone.
Joe Thomas Sr inspires me to accomplish my goal of being a state champion because even though he let his doubts affect him the first time, he tried again and again until he fulfilled his goal.
1) yes he does inspire me to accomplish my dreams.
2) my goals in life are to become an occupational therapist, and then get a job working with disabled veterans and helping them recooperate from injuries and helping their families adjust. I can achieve these goals by keeping my grades up in school, staying focused and working hard.
This motivates me a lot. I love to read about how he pushed through what everyone thought was weird or different. He didn’t care. He worked hard in school and at his job, and it paid off in the end. This article made me smile realizing how big this must have been for him.
Yes he motivates me to not give up on something that I really want to accomplish. I really want to try to go to state for tennis my senior year which seems like something really far from reach right now but I want to work really hard and get better so that I can accomplish that. That’s something that I’m only going to get one shot at so it’s not a life long goal. Once high schools over I can’t go back and redo my tennis career but I am looking into playing tennis at college so that is a goal of mine. I also want to earn my CDA through my early Ed class at the career center and to do that I will be hopefully getting a job over the summer to work with children and earn my CDA. I also want to earn a gold medal on my FCCLA project so that is something I’m going to be working really hard on.
He does motivate me to follow me dreams and never give up on them. One of my dreams is to become a successful adult and start a family. If I have faith in my dreams, they can come true.
Joe Sr. Does not motivate me to achieve my goals.
My goal sports wise is to be the best first basemen I can be.
Yes because you’re never too old to do what I wanna do. If you have your eyes set on doing something then go and do it. My goal in life is to do what I wanna do and have no regrets doing it.
This motivates me to go try and reach my goals and to never give up. My goal is to go far in regionals. I will work as hard as I can to reach my goal by giving my all at practice and going to every practice to get all the practice in.
He does motivate me. My goals are to keep pushing myself and do my best.