NEW ORLEANS — Growing up, Thomas Booker listened to NPR instead of music on the radio. He and his parents discussed geopolitical issues and the stock market at the dinner table. And he had the body of a future NFL lineman.
The Ellicott City native had several paths to success. He chose football — and it has paid off.
Booker, 25, is living his NFL dream with the Philadelphia Eagles, who meet the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl 59 on Sunday at the Superdome. After spending the 2023 season on the practice squad, “President Book” (as his teammates affectionately call him) played in every game in 2024.
Yet many believe the Gilman School graduate’s greatest achievements will come after his football career.
“I would be lying if [I said] I haven’t thought about what I want to do after [the NFL], as a businessman, as someone in the community, where I can make my impact,” Booker told Capital News Service before Sunday’s game.
Booker’s high school coach Tim Holley can already see that future, saying of his former star player: “He’s going to make much more money after football. At the end of his life, football will be just a piece of what he’s done.”
Booker’s family helped lay the groundwork for his success. Ava Lias-Booker, his mother, is a partner in a Baltimore law firm and was named one of Woodward/White’s “Best Lawyers in America” in 2001. His father, Earl Thomas Booker III, played football at the University of Wisconsin and is a financial consultant. Both will attend the Super Bowl on Sunday.
A standout student-athlete at Gilman, Booker played five positions for the Greyhounds’ football team and was selected to the 2016 USA Today All-State first team. The two-time All-Metro first-team by The Baltimore Sun also carried a perfect 4.0 GPA. Ivy League schools courted Booker, but he decided to attend Stanford University.
Booker thrived on Stanford’s campus. He was a two-time team captain, an All-Pac 12 selection on special teams and the defensive line and was a finalist for the 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy, awarded annually to the college football player with the best combination of academics, community service and on-field performance.
“If 15 years from now, you called me and told me Thomas was the Democratic or Republican [nominee for president], I would not be surprised in the slightest,” Holley said.
In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder in Minneapolis in 2020, Booker became a leading voice on Stanford’s campus in the fight for social justice and racial equality. He helped found CardinalBLCK, a Stanford program designed to connect and support Black student-athletes.
Booker also was a national co-chair of “Athletes for Harris” in support of Democratic nominee and former Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 U.S. presidential campaign.
In addition to politics, Booker has devoted time to charitable work. He and Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean — who called Booker a “very intelligent guy” — worked with the nonprofit Leveling the Playing Field to sort and organize sports equipment donations.
“Thomas doesn’t just gravitate to an issue just to be out there. He has to feel he can really contribute to advancing the cause to get engaged,” Lias-Booker said of her son. “I think he relishes opportunities to be with the community.”
Booker’s off-field accolades and maturity were appreciated by scouts ahead of the 2022 NFL draft. But while the Houston Texans selected the defensive tackle in the fifth round, he was waived from the team just a year later.
“Getting cut [is] very objective. You’re unemployed,” Booker said. “This is just kind of what sports are, sometimes you just objectively lose and you have to figure out: Am I going to decide to quit or am I going to decide to keep on trying to master my craft?”
Booker, listed at 6-foot-3, 301 pounds, was signed to the Eagles’ practice squad soon after that, but he didn’t appear in a game in 2023.
Philadelphia signed him to the active roster ahead of the 2024 season. He has appeared in every game for the Eagles, recording 1 1/2 sacks and 18 tackles. And he’s expected to suit up again for the Super Bowl.
Through it all, Booker’s ties to Baltimore and to Gilman remain strong. Friends and family turned out when the Eagles beat the Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Dec. 1. Last year, he attended his fifth high school reunion at Gilman, where his former classmates hadn’t forgotten about him either.
“I’m thinking there are going to be a lot of Gilman Eagle fans on Sunday because of him,” Holley said.
Capital News Service is a student-powered news organization run by the University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism.