The old axiom is wrong. Imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery -- not as far as Phillip Thomas is concerned.
When the undrafted safety from Syracuse University signed with the Eagles, it should have been a happy time for him and his family. Instead, Thomas became the center of a bizarre ordeal that only recently came to an end. He hopes.
The sought-after free agent was the victim of a strange public saga that managed to dupe several mainstream media outlets. While he was still at Syracuse, someone started posting to Facebook and Twitter while pretending to be Thomas.
?A student walked up to me and said, ?Hey, you know you got two Facebook accounts??? said the 21-year-old Thomas. ?I said ?no.? He showed me his phone, and I saw all types of unnecessary pictures up and things like that. I?m a college athlete -- you know, that?s not good on my behalf.?
It became something of an issue when Thomas inked a contract with the Eagles shortly after the NFL draft. The imposter posted photos of the real Thomas and said that the safety was actually signing with Washington Redskins. To help perpetrate the ruse, the phony Thomas also used pictures from inside Redskins Park, took snapshots of the Redskins playbook, and even went so far as to dash off a note to Yahoo! Sports saying that he wanted nothing to do with the Eagles.
The fake Thomas became such a hot topic on Redskins message boards that he managed to set up several interviews with D.C. area media outlets. A host for Ball Hogs Radio talked to the imposter, who convinced some listeners that he was the real Thomas by discussing how it was an honor to be a member of the Redskins and what it was like to listen to the majesty of a Mike Shanahan speech. The pretender assured the radio host and fans of the team that it was his lifelong dream to be a member of the organization and that he hoped to play up to the standards of deceased former Redskins safety Sean Taylor.
It wasn?t until Yahoo! Sports dispatched a reporter to the NovaCare Complex to talk to the real Thomas that the imposter?s story unraveled. Thereafter, the journalist evidently called the fake Thomas and confronted him. The imposter reportedly said that the Eagles had cut him and the Redskins had signed him. Then the faux Thomas promptly hung up the phone.
The phony Thomas also waged an unfortunate and sometimes ugly campaign against the real Thomas?s character. At one point, the impersonator took a photo of a stack of empty booze bottles and posted it to Facebook, apparently suggesting that Thomas had a drinking problem or had been late partying.
NFL Security was notified of the issue after Thomas signed with the Eagles and managed to identify the imposter through a computer trace. According to a team spokesman, NFL Security dispatched a formal letter to the fake Thomas, who has recently ceased pretending to be the Eagles safety. Thomas said he still doesn?t know who the person is, but he suspects the impersonator of watching him ?real closely.?
?After they traced it back to his computer, everything has stopped since then,? Thomas said. ?I really don?t know if the police got involved. I never talked to the police. I didn?t get a lawyer. I wasn?t scared for my life or anything ? I?m just happy that it?s taken care of, that I?m here with a great organization, and that it stopped. All I can do is come out here and play every day and not worry about the unnecessary stuff. ?
E-mail John Gonzalez at jgonzalez@comcastsportsnet.com
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