SHAMARKO: The Legend Begins

You already know my excitement for SHAMARKO Thomas and based on his hashtag, you have some as well.  The true freshman defensive back brought with him a name so unique and so undeniably fun to say, it's almost a bonus that he's turned out to be, you know, a good football player.

In just his third collegiate outing, the true freshman cornerback recorded seven tackles, broke up a pass and recovered a fumble in the Orange's 37-34 victory over Northwestern. It was an impressive showing that suggested Thomas may play a key role this season in Syracuse's struggling secondary.

"Shamarko Thomas is probably one of the most productive performers as a freshman we've had," head coach Doug Marrone said at his weekly press conference Monday afternoon. "From a productivity standpoint, he played 48 snaps and he had a 92 percent production rating, which means he was involved for 92 percent of the plays."

Shamarko sounds excited for the opportunity, noting that he was surprised to hear his unit get called into the game but once he was in there and got his first tackle, "it makes you feel like you're ready for this and you are used to this."  He better get used to it...given the struggles of the secondary overall we're gonna need him.

SHAMARKO!!!!!!