Thomas, Derrick 1967–2000

Derrick Thomas 1967–2000

Professional football player

Committed to Football

Came of Age in the NFL

A Tragic End

Sources

Possessing tremendous speed and agility, Derrick Thomas was a linebacker who struck fear in the hearts of opposing NFL quarterbacks. A perennial selection to the Pro Bowl, he enjoyed ten stellar seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. Tragically, Thomas was paralyzed in a car accident near Kansas City, Missouri on January 23, 2000. While recovering in a hospital in Miami, Florida, he developed a blood clot and suffered cardiorespiratory arrest. He died on February 8, 2000.

Thomas was born on January 1, 1967 in Miami, Florida, and would become one of the most dominating defensive players in the history of the National Football League (NFL). In 1972 when Thomas was five his father, who was a pilot in the Air Force, was shot down over Vietnam while flying a B-52 bomber. Thomas’s father declared missing in action, and then declared legally dead in 1980. Thomas was raised in South Miami by his mother, Edith Morgan, and her foster mother Annie Adams. He grew up in the inner city and, as a child, had several run-ins with the police. At the age of 14, Thomas was arrested for burglary and sent to the Dade Marine Institute, a boot camp program which served as a last option for young offenders before sending them to prison. It was there that Thomas turned his life around. He returned to South Miami High School and excelled on the football field as a running back, tight end, and linebacker. Thomas told Jeffry Flanagan of the Kansas City Star about his transformation from troubled youth to football standout, “I stopped running with the wrong people. Instead of sitting around and throwing rocks at cars and buses, and trying to figure out what place to rob, I put all my energy into football.”

Committed to Football

After earning all-league honors at South Miami High School, Thomas earned a scholarship to the University of Alabama and proceeded to dominate the Southeast Conference. During his junior year with the Crimson Tide, Thomas recorded 67 tackles and a school-record 18 sacks. As a senior at Alabama, he won the Butkus Award as the country’s top linebacker and was named an Ail-American. He set school records with 52 sacks and 74 tackles for a loss over the course of his career as a collegian. In 1989, Thomas was drafted fourth overall

At a Glance…

Born Derrick Vincent Thomas, January 1, 1967, in Miami, FL; died February 8, 2000, in Miami, FL; son of Robert Thomas (an Air Force captain) and Edith Morgan; children: Burgandie, Derrick Jr., Demon, Derrius, Robert, Micayla, and Alexis; Education: University of Alabama, attended.

Career: Played running back, tight end, and linebacker at South Miami High School, 1983; starred at linebacker at the University of Alabama, 1984–88; linebacker with the Kansas City Chiefs, 1989–99.

Member: Third and Long Foundation, founder, 1990

Awards: All-American and Butkus Award winner, 1988; Defensive Rookie of the Year, Mack Lee Hill Award winner, 1989; named to the Pro Bowl 1989–97; set NFL single-gamesack record {7), 1990; Chiefs MVP, 1991, 1994; NFL Man of the Year, 1993; won Byron-“Whizzer” White Humanitarian Award, 1995; holds Chiefs career record for sacks(126.5), safeties (3), and fumble recoveries (19).

by the Kansas City Chiefs after Troy Aikman, Tony Mandarich, and Barry Sanders. As a rookie, he announced his arrival in the NFL by rolling up 10 sacks and 55 quarterback pressures. Thomas went on to earn the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award from the Associated Press. He also started in the Pro Bowl and won the Mack Lee Hill Award, which is awarded to the Chiefs’ best rookie.

In his second season with the Chiefs, Thomas set the NFL single-game sack record against the Seattle Sea-hawks, sacking quarterback Dave Krieg seven times and forcing two fumbles. He accomplished this feat on Veteran’s Day after watching four Air Force jets fly over the stadium during a pre-game ceremony. Thomas started in his second Pro Bowl after leading the NFL with 20 sacks. His 20 quarterback sacks in 1990 established a new Chiefs record and was the fifth-highest total in league history. He also forced six fumbles and made 63 tackles over the course of the 1990 season. Off the field, Thomas established his own charitable organization, the Third and Long Foundation. The foundation started out as a way to raise money for poor kids. However, with Thomas’s active participation, it focused more intently on encouraging children to read and pursue their educational goals.

Came of Age in the NFL

In 1991, Thomas earned his third consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl. He was also named the Chiefs’ Most Valuable Player (MVP) on the strength of a 13.5–sack, 79–tackle season. The following year brought another invitation to the Pro Bowl as Thomas led the team with 67 tackles, 14.5 sacks, eight forced fumbles, and one touchdown.

In 1993, Thomas was named the NFL Man of the Year for his efforts both on the field and with the Third and Long Foundation. In addition to establishing his charity as a force in the Kansas City area, he led the Chiefs to the AFC Championship game. Thomas also became further identified with the cause of Vietnam veterans after giving the keynote speech at Memorial Day services in front of the Vietnam Veterans Monument. He received the Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall of Fame Award for his work on behalf of soldiers stationed overseas. He was also designated by former President George Bush as the “832nd Point of Light” for his charity work in and around Kansas City.

Thomas followed a strong 1993 campaign with perhaps his best season as a professional. Besides earning a sixth straight trip to the Pro Bowl, Thomas was named the Chiefs MVP for the second time. In only his sixth season, he became the team’s all-time sack leader with 72.5 sacks, including the 11 he racked up over the course of the 1994 season. Always known as a fierce pass-rusher, Thomas was now receiving recognition for his overall game. Then-coach of the Oakland Raiders, Art Shell, commented on Thomas’s skills to Flanagan of the Kansas City Star, “Everybody knows what he can do in rushing the passer. Now, he’s stopping the run, too. He’s the complete package. Almost unstoppable.” Along with his usual eye-popping sack totals, Thomas also recorded a career-high 86 tackles with six forced fumbles.

The following two years were typically outstanding. Thomas made two more trips to the Pro Bowl—extending his Chiefs record for Pro Bowl appearances. In 1995, Thomas was again recognized for his charitable work when he received the Byron “Whizzer” White Humanitarian Award. After eight years in the NFL, the injury bug finally bit Thomas. Before the 1997 season, he hurt his left triceps tendon during the pre-season and missed four games. Thomas was forced to play out the rest of the season with an arm brace, which limited his effectiveness. He was also switched to a new linebacker position, but still managed to record 9.5 sacks and 55 tackles. Despite a less than stellar season, Thomas earned a spot on his ninth straight Pro Bowl team. In 1998, Thomas started ten of the season’s 16 games. After recording six sacks to start the season, he tallied only six more for the rest of the season. Thomas’s frustration boiled over during a nationally televised game against the Chiefs’ archrival, the Denver Broncos. Late in the game, with Kansas City losing badly, Thomas was penalized three times for personal fouls in one defensive series. Thomas was suspended for a week, and Chiefs’ coach Marty Schot-tenheimer resigned after the season when it became clear that he had lost control of the team.

A Tragic End

During the 1999 season, Thomas was used mostly as a pass-rusher. He compiled only seven sacks, and the Chiefs season ended without a playoff appearance. Despite his team’s absence from post-season play, Thomas was still interested in professional football. He had planned to fly from Kansas City to St. Louis to watch the St. Louis Rams play in the NFC Championship Game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on January 23, 2000. The roads in Kansas City were icy as the city was experiencing its first snowstorm of the year. Thomas was hurrying through traffic in his Chevrolet Suburban on his way to the airport when his vehicle hit a patch of ice and flipped over several times, Thomas and a friend were thrown from the vehicle. Thomas was paralyzed and his friend and business partner, Michael Tellis, died instantly. A third passenger, who was wearing a seat belt, was uninjured.

The following day, Thomas was transferred from a Kansas City hospital to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida to have an operation on his shattered spine. Everything seemed to be going well for Thomas, who was in extraordinary physical condition, and he was looking forward to a successful rehabilitation. On the morning of February 8, 2000, Thomas went into cardiorespiratory arrest and died. Dr. Barth Green, a neurosurgeon at Jackson Memorial Hospital told ESPN, “A certain percentage of people with paralysis suffer from blood clots. Sometimes you can see them and sometimes they’re hidden in the deeper veins of the body. And that’s what happened to Derrick.” The blood clot occurred in his pulmonary artery and deprived Thomas of blood and oxygen, which triggered the cardiorespiratory arrest.

The news of Thomas’s death devastated the Kansas City community and the sports world in general. Carl Peterson, the Kansas City Chiefs president and general manager told the New York Times’ Thomas George, “We would see his heart grow over the next 11 years, and he always went back and kept in touch with the people who touched his life. Derrick came to the heartland of America, and it was here that he gave his heart.” At a memorial service at the Chiefs Arrowhead Stadium, 22,750 fans viewed the body of their fallen hero and a B-2 Stealth bomber flew over the site to honor Thomas. Although his career was cut short, he had established Chiefs’ records in Pro Bowl appearances (9), sacks (126.5), safeties (3), forced fumbles (45), and fumble recoveries (18). In an obituary published in The Dallas Morning News, NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw expressed his thoughts about the life of Derrick Thomas, “I never looked at Derrick Thomas as a football player. I looked at Derrick Thomas as one of the finer people that I had ever been around and as a friend. The thing I’ll always remember about Derrick is his smile, that’s one thing I’ll never get out of my mind. Derrick will hang over this stadium forever.”

Sources

Periodicals

Dallas Morning News, February 9, 2000.

Kansas City Star, February 8, 2000.

New York Times, February 16, 2000.

Other

Additional information for this profile was obtained from http://www.kcchiefs.com\latest\mainnews.asp?storyID-1304&cat=1 http://www.kcchiefsxom\rosters_stats\player.asp http://espn.go.com\nfl\news\2000\0208\343189.html

—Michael J. Watkins