After R Mason Thomas was selected with the No. 40 overall pick in the 2026 NFL draft, his name might have prompted a quick question from Kansas City Chiefs fans:
What does the "R" stand for?
The answer: nothing.
"It doesn't stand for anything," said Thomas in a September 2024 episode of "The Ref 1400" podcast. "Some people put a period there [after the R]. My first name is R Mason. There's a space in between the capital R and the capital M. My mom didn't want me to be an R name, like Richard or Raymond. But on her side of the family, [there are] a lot of R names. Her dad, her grandfather, my uncle, her brother, even his son's name starts with an R. She didn't want an R name, but she wanted to keep the R going, so she made it R Mason."
Earlier in his life, Thomas didn't always use his full name.
"I used to not say the R, up until like junior year of high school. I would just say Mason so if anybody calls me Mason, it's because they knew me before junior year of high school," he said. "So really that's when I said, 'Let me stop saying that. I need to own my name.'"
Now, his full name is the one that will be called at the next level of his football career.
Before the Chiefs called his name on stage in Pittsburgh, Thomas recorded 15.5 sacks and 25 tackles for loss over two seasons as a starting edge rusher at Oklahoma under coach Brent Venables.
