This Dallas Cowboys player made his Broadway debut in a Michael Jackson musical
It’s only been a little over three months since defensive tackle Solomon Thomas signed a two-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys in free agency, but he has quickly made his presence known off the field.
In addition to head coach Brian Schottenheimer commending his work ethic and veteran approach in the locker room during OTAs and minicamp, Thomas has also made a quick impact on the community with a free youth camp that saw over 150 children attend in Coppell last month.
Despite a lot of change and off-the-field work this offseason, Thomas has also found time to embark on a childhood dream of his: perform in a Broadway play.
On June 12, Thomas appeared on stage in New York City in a performance for “MJ the Musical,” which gives viewers a Broadway take on the life and musical success of Michael Jackson.
“It started with my love for theater as a kid,” Thomas said. “I was in it all the time growing up, did it all through high school. Actually, my freshman year, I had to choose between theater and football. I obviously chose football.”
The relationship between Thomas and the Broadway scene began when he arrived in New York to play for the Jets in 2022. In just three years, he connected with higher-ups on the scene and made his way on stage for one of his favorite musicals.
“We found this connection between football and Broadway,” Thomas said. “Just the mental pressure and the performance of it and how we’re more alike than we are different. I started getting to know them and getting to become friends with them, and then from there, my agency got me the opportunity to present an award at the Tonys and get to know some of the producers and people behind the scenes.”
Anyone that knows Thomas knows his affection for the musical, as he took his teammates out to see the play while HBO was filming a season of Hard Knocks covering the Jets in 2023.
“I fell in love with one of the plays out there, ‘MJ the Musical,’” he said. “I’ve seen it six times, did my girlfriend’s birthday out there, took the team there for Hard Knocks. From there, they were just like, ‘Hey, we want to celebrate you leaving New York. It was a quick three years, but it was a very impactful three years, and we wanted to give you a sending off present.’”
Shortly after the Cowboys wrapped their mandatory minicamp on Thursday, June 11, Thomas hopped on a direct flight to New York. The next morning, he began prepping for the performance by running through the show multiple times with the on-stage talent before finishing off the performance on Friday evening.
“They let me be a part of their amazing talent,” he said. “No way do I deserve to be up there, but they let me be a part of their night. It’s an honor to share the stage with the most talented people in the world.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2025 at 4:00 AM.
