Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

The last weekend of April 2017 always will have a special place in Josh Thornton’s heart.

On Friday, Thornton graduated from Southern Utah with a degree in communication and mass media studies. On Saturday, Thornton landed his first job out of school – with his old roommate Miles Killebrew and the Detroit Lions.

“It honestly was one of the best weekends of my life,” Thornton told the Free Press earlier this week. “At first, you get the draft jitters and you want to hear your name called and stuff. Of course, you’re disappointed when you don’t get your name called, but the fact that I had gotten my degree and I had the Lions call me – literally as the last pick got picked I think the Lions called me when they announced the name. So it was bittersweet for a little bit, but I wasn’t bitter for long.”

More Lions:

Brian Xanders no longer with Detroit Lions front office

Detroit Lions bringing small-school quarterback to camp as tight end

UDFA tracker: Quick bios on the rookies Lions signed after NFL draft

Detroit Lions' Haloti Ngata good to go in '17 after brain checkup

A two-year starter at Southern Utah, Thornton is one of the Lions’ top undrafted free-agent signings.

He agreed to a standard three-year contract with a $10,000 signing bonus and another $20,000 of his first-year base salary guaranteed. San Diego State defensive end Alex Barrett ($36,000) is the only player the Lions are known to have given more guaranteed money to as a UDFA.

While Thornton grew up in Florida as a Green Bay Packers fan, he said it wasn’t difficult to turn down free-agent offers from the Packers and 10 or so other teams to pick the Lions.

“It wasn’t as tough as I thought it was going to be because they were talking about that I was definitely getting drafted by them so when they called it was kind of like, I had a little bit of a sour tooth towards them,” Thornton said. “They had kind of guaranteed that I was getting drafted by them, so when it didn’t happen I was just like, ‘Oh, OK. It sounds good.’”

Thornton traveled an unconventional path to Southern Utah.

He committed to Illinois out of high school, but when Ron Zook – now the Packers’ special teams coach – was fired, he ended up at Western Illinois.

Thornton enrolled early at Western Illinois, but transferred again during his first season to Allan Hancock College, a junior college program north of Los Angeles.

Thornton played two years at Alan Hancock before signing with Southern Utah, but had to sit out his first season with the Thunderbirds after one of his junior-college courses didn’t transfer.

When Thornton finally got on the field in 2015, he started at cornerback in Southern Utah’s league-best secondary, where Killebrew was an enforcer at safety and future fourth-round pick of the Lions. Last year, he had three interceptions and eight other pass breakups in 11 games.

“It was an amazing group,” Thornton said. “Honestly, we had so much camaraderie, cause Miles and (LeShaun Sims), who went to the Titans, we were all roommates. We would work out and do stuff over the summer leading up to the season so … we had such a good connection, a good understanding of each other so when it came time to play on the field, we were ready to go.”

Thornton and Killebrew remain close friends today. Killebrew traveled to the NFLPA all-star game to watch Thornton play in front of NFL scouts in January, and Thornton said the second-year safety, who’s expected to play an expanded role for the Lions this fall, was one of the reasons why he signed with the Lions.

“It’s just been fun talking to him about the whole defense and just the city and everything that deals with Detroit,” Thornton said. “He’s just telling me, you don’t have too much to worry about and that you can come in here and compete right away and be ready to ball. The defense is not too much different from what Southern Utah does, so that made me comfortable as well. I felt as if with what Miles was telling me that I could come in and be a contributing factor and help this team anyway that I could.”

The Lions return starting cornerbacks Darius Slay and Nevin Lawson, signed D.J. Hayden in free agency and added two more corners in the draft, Florida’s Teez Tabor and San Diego’s Jamal Agnew, so Thornton does not have a clear path to a roster spot.

But Thornton said he developed a good relationship with Lions cornerbacks coach Tony Oden during the predraft process - they spoke regularly and Oden traveled to Cedar City, Utah, to work out Thornton - and he said reuniting with Killebrew should help him find his footing on the field.

“I just felt like I could come in and compete right away and just fight for a job and fight for a spot on special teams or on the defense as well,” Thornton said. “I felt like it was the right move for me.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!