Few fans of Miami sports have forgotten the many dramatic moments provided by wide receiver Lamar Thomas' career -- and now they can add "plays Coach Bolton in High School Musical" to the list.
How in the world did Lamar Thomas end up treading the boards playing Zach Efron's father for Boynton Beach Community High School?
When his on-field career ended, Thomas became a commentator with Comcast Sports Southeast. During the infamous on-field brawl at the Orange Bowl between Miami and Florida International, Thomas voiced a spirited support of his former team on-air: "You can't come over to our place talking noise like that. You'll get your butt beat. I was about to go down the elevator to get in that thing.....I say, why don't we meet outside in the tunnel after the ball game and get it on some more? You don't come into the OB, baby. We've had a down couple of years but you don't come in here talking smack. Not in our house."
Shadows of future on-stage soliloquies, perhaps (it certainly moved us), but Comcast didn't take it very well -- so Thomas decided to get out of the spotlight and back to helping kids with the man who helped him most. More than 20 years later, his former high school coach from Gainesville, Rick Swain, took Thomas on as an assistant where he now coaches in Boynton Beach.
"The fact that you can make a difference in someone's life and in the life of a young child shows me how and why Rick has done this for so long," Thomas said.
Joe Ametrano, the director of the school's theatre department, approached Thomas about playing the role of a basketball coach whose son wants to try out for a school play. Thomas is taking part because he believes the story's message about following your dreams is a great one for kids. But it doesn't keep the butterflies away. "I've been interviewed on ESPN many times,have had a show or two," he said, "but this is probably the most nerve wracking experience."
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Like responsible adults, we haven't actually seen Disney's High School Musical, but that's not necessary to know just how amusing (and sweet, really) this is. The downside for the audience? Coach Bolton doesn't have any singing parts.
The play opens April 16. We're now one step closer to seeing Clinton Portis play all eight versions of himself on Broadway, and for that we can all be thankful.
