Chiefs’ edge rusher R Mason Thomas: Why “R” doesn’t stand for anything

After R Mason Thomas was chosen with the No. 40 total choose within the 2026 NFL draft, his title may need prompted a fast query from Kansas City Chiefs followers:

What does the “R” stand for?

The reply: nothing.

“It doesn’t stand for anything,” mentioned 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 did not all the time use his full title.

“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 mentioned. “So really that’s when I said, ‘Let me stop saying that. I need to own my name.'”

Now, his full title is the one which might be referred to as on the subsequent degree of his soccer profession.

Before the Chiefs referred to as his title on stage in Pittsburgh, Thomas recorded 15.5 sacks and 25 tackles for loss over two seasons as a beginning edge rusher at Oklahoma below coach Brent Venables.