Arni's Birthday Zoom -- Boilermaker receiver Tommie Thomas

We celebrated Tommie Thomas' 31st birthday with a Zoom call from his home in the Miami (Florida) area. The ever-positive Thomas shared his important work with the Foundation that bears his name and also his Boilermaker experience. He also spoke about his mother's battle with cancer and how he enjoyed his experience working with the Purdue Challenge 5K during his days as an undergrad.

The Robbins, Ill., native came to Purdue in 2008 as a safety but finished his career as a receiver. He was one of the Boilermaker bright spots in a Heart of Dallas Bowl loss to Oklahoma State on New Year's Day 2013, which also happened to be Thomas' last game. He caught a touchdown pass from his college buddy Robert Marve, among the many former teammates he stays in contact with to this day.