The NFC title game momentum could have been tied up in one play.

The Eagles were in there fourth conference championship in four years.

After losing the previous three games, the Eagles found themselves against a wall. This one play represented all of their previous attempts to make the Super Bowl.

It was a Michael Vick scramble on fourth and goal. If Vick scored, it was anybody’s ball game. Running towards the end zone, the Falcons QB was greeted by a 6-foot, 308 pound tank.

That tank’s name was Hollis Thomas.

This defensive tackle was one of four Huskies in the NFL playoffs. Thomas is the only one who was not a product of the Joe Novak era.

An all-conference performer his senior year, Thomas last played for NIU in 1995 when the Huskies were a member of the Big West. Coming out of college, he was viewed as nothing more than a mid-major athlete by the NFL scouts.

The 1996 draft came and after seven rounds had gone by his name went uncalled. Thomas then went on to make a home-made highlight reel that he sent to every NFL team. The Eagles came calling.

It was this hard work and determination that garnered him NFL All Rookie Team honors as well as help fuel a career currently in its ninth season.

Thomas’ off-season doesn’t give him any reason to slow down either. To stay in shape he enlists the help of nutrition expert Carolyn Bryant. A body builder, Bryant was able to trim down Thomas by 55 pounds before the 2003 season.

Thomas is also committed to helping as many communities as possible. As a sufferer of asthma, he makes sure to speak to local schools about asthma awareness.

His greatest manner of charity would be the Hollis Thomas Foundation. The organization was established in 2001 in St. Louis, Mo. Thomas created this organization to give back to the community which brought him up as a football player.

The foundation raises money by hosting celebrity fundraisers which include a celebrity all-star basketball game, comedy shows, banquets and many other events to help the youths of St. Louis reach their full potential.

Thomas also sponsors a youth football and cheerleading camp – a yearly event which features Thomas himself, other NFL players and celebrities for three days at no expense to the kids or their families.

Thomas also has a possible broadcast career after retirement from the NFL. He was the host of “Inside the Eagles,” a weekly show which received 15 Emmy nominations with Thomas as the host for four years.

His college years saw him as a child development major with 202 tackles, 31 for loss and eight piranhas as pets.

This season Thomas recorded 21 tackles and come this Sunday, Thomas will represent NIU at the largest television spectacle in the world.