Tavierre Thomas

Early life

Thomas was born and grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Detroit Allen Academy. As a senior, Thomas received recruiting interest from Iowa, Central Michigan and Eastern Michigan but was not offered a scholarship by any Division I program due to a low ACT score despite graduating high school with a 3.8 grade point average. Thomas ultimately decided to enroll at Ferris State University on an academic scholarship.

College career

Thomas played four seasons with the Ferris State Bulldogs, initially joining the team as a walk-on. Although he initially intended to redshirt his freshman season and then transfer to a Division I program after meeting academic standards, Thomas eventually opted to play the final five games of the season after an injury to one of the team's starting defensive backs. Thomas was named one of the Bulldogs' starting cornerbacks going into his sophomore year and recorded 48 tackles with three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. In his junior season, he intercepted a career-high six passes with 15 passes defensed in 15 starts was named first-team All-Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and first-team Division II All-America, as well as third-team Little All-America by the Associated Press. As a senior, Thomas was again named first-team all-GLIAC and Division II All-America as well as the GLIAC Defensive Back of the Year after recording 60 tackles, four interceptions and had a career-high 18 passes defensed. Thomas finished his collegiate career with 175 total tackles, 14 interceptions and 35 passes defensed.