Recruit uses live tree, nerd glasses to tell us he's going to Stanford

Published Feb. 5, 2014 10:45 a.m. ET

Teddy Mitrosilis

The creative bar has been raised again at Stanford.

We already know the Cardinal are progressive thinkers, which is why offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren wore Google Glass to a Rose Bowl media day session.

Now, on National Signing Day, it took a defensive end recruit out of Texas to go a step further.

Solomon Thomas of Coppell, Texas, sat in his high school gym Wednesday morning to announce he’d be signing a Letter of Intent with the Cardinal.

How’d he do it?

Why, by putting a live tree next to the microphone and donning “nerd glasses.” Take a look:

The nerd glasses became a national thing last season after Stanford beat Oregon on Nov. 7 and a handful of players wore them to the postgame press conference to represent “Nerd Nation,” the moniker Stanford’s student body and alumni have proudly taken ownership of.

As for Thomas, he’s an exciting prospect, a four-star recruit listed at 6-foot-3 and 256 pounds. He had offers from UCLA, Alabama, Baylor, Arizona State, Clemson, Florida State and a host of others before choosing Stanford.

Recruiting analysts say Thomas lacks a little quickness and therefore isn’t a dynamic edge rusher, but he’s very stout against the run and figures to help carry on the recent tradition of great Stanford defenses.

For more of a look at Thomas, here are some highlights from his senior season:

Teddy Mitrosilis writes and edits college football for FOXSports.com. Follow him on Twitter and email him at tmitrosilis@gmail.com.