Thomas, Derrick

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Derrick Thomas

1967-2000

American football player

As a linebacker, Derrick Thomas was a presence feared by opposing quarterbacks. He possessed great quickness and unbelievable strength, and always found a way to bring down the ball carrier. Consistently at the top of his game, Thomas was a perennial selection for the Pro Bowl, and in ten seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, became not only a dominant force on the field, but also a big part of the community through his generous giving and charitable work.

In what can only be described as a tragic loss, Thomas was paralyzed when his Suburban truck flipped on the icy roads near the Kansas City airport on January 23, 2000. He died only a few weeks later, on February 8, leaving an empty space both Kansas City and the Chiefs know they can never fill.

Growing Up

Derrick Thomas was born on January 1, 1967, in Miami, Florida. Chiefs fans know well the story of Thomas' childhood. When Derrick was 5, the North Vietnamese shot down his father, Robert James Thomas, an air force pilot, while he was piloting a B-52 Bomber. He was declared missing in action.

Edith Morgan, his mother, and Annie Adams, his grandmother, would raise Derrick. After his father was declared legally dead in 1980, Thomas rebelled. He was growing up in Miami's inner city, and he ended up getting into trouble. When he was fourteen, Thomas was arrested by the South Miami police and sent to the Dade Marine Institute, a program run much like a boot camp. It was the last stop for juvenile offenders before they were sent on to prison, and although Thomas hated it, he said later that it was the best thing to happen to him. He told Jeffrey Flanagan of the Kansas City Star that getting caught made him stop "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."

After leaving the detention center, Thomas went on to earn all-league honors at South Miami High School, which in turn earned him a scholarship to the University of Alabama, a powerhouse in college football. Thomas became a star, amassing sixty-seven tackles in his junior season and compiling a school-record eighteen sacks. When he was a senior, he was presented the Butkus Award, given to the country's top linebacker. He graduated from the Crimson Tide with fifty-two sacks and seventy-four tackles, a new school record.

Roll Tide to Kansas City

Marty Schottenheimer had been brought in to turn around the Kansas City Chiefs organization that fared poorly throughout much of the 1980s. His first order of business was to draft Thomas, picked fourth over-all by the Chiefs in the 1989 draft. Thomas made an immediate impact, recording ten sacks and fifty-five quarterback pressures. The Associated Press awarded him their Defensive Rookie of the Year Award, and he began a long series of Pro Bowl appearances, as well as winning the Mack Lee Award for best Chiefs Rookie.

Thomas helped usher in a new era for the Kansas City Chiefs. Throughout much of the nineties, the Chiefs were playoff contenders, something fans hadn't seen in a long time. Thomas established a Chiefs record for sacks in only his second season (20), and forced many fumbles, helping turn the Kansas City defense into one of the best in the league. In 1994, his sixth season in the NFL, Thomas would become the Chiefs' all time sack leader with 72.5 sacks.

In his final four seasons, Thomas continued to exhibit the high level of play he was known for, though an injury to his left triceps prior to the 1997 season kept him out for four games. When he returned to the field, he did so with an arm brace, thus limiting his mobility and effectiveness.

Career Statistics

		Tackles				Misc/fumbles		Interceptions
Yr	Team	TOT	SOLO	AST	SACK	FF	BK	INT	TD
C: Kansas City Chiefs.
1989	KC	75	56	19	10.0	3	0	0	0
1990	KC	63	47	16	20.0	6	0	0	0
1991	KC	79	60	19	14.0	4	0	0	0
1992	KC	67	54	13	15.0	8	0	0	0
1993	KC	43	32	11	8.0	4	0	0	0
1994	KC	71	67	4	11.0	2	0	0	0
1995	KC	53	48	5	8.0	2	0	0	0
1996	KC	55	49	6	13.0	4	1	0	0
1997	KC	34	30	4	9.5	3	0	0	0
1998	KC	42	35	7	12.0	2	0	0	0
1999	KC	60	54	6	7.0	2	0	1	0
TOTAL		642	532	110	127.5	40	1	1	0

Awards and Accomplishments

1988	Butkus Award; All-American
1989	Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year
1989-97	Pro Bowl
1991	Named Chiefs' Most Valuable Player
1993	Named NFL's Man of the Year
1993	Recipient of Veterans of Foreign Wars Hall of Fame Award
1993	Designated by President George Bush as "832nd Point of Light" for his charity work in Kansas City
1994	Named Chiefs' Most Valuable Player (second time)
1995	Receives Byron "Whizzer" White Humanitarian Award

Compounding his physical woes were the problems the Chiefs were having as a team. They couldn't seem to coalesce. Coach Schottenheimer seemed to have lost control of his players, and in a 1998 game against the Denver Broncos, Thomas, his frustrations mounting, racked up three penalties in one defensive series, earning him a one-week suspension. At the season's end, when the Chiefs failed to make the playoffs, Schottenheimer retired. Thomas planned to take some time off and then get ready for the next season.

A Tragic End

Not wanting to miss the 1999 postseason, even if he could only to watch from the stands, Derrick Thomas, while driving to the Kansas City airport on January 23, 2000, was paralyzed when his truck flipped several times on the icy Interstate. He died only a few weeks later, on February 8.

Derrick Thomas was more than just a stellar athlete; he was an outstanding and giving human being. His Third and Long Foundation has helped hundreds of kids realize their educational goals and, like Thomas, over-come difficulty reading. His work off the field earned him the 1993 NFL Man of the Year.

Chronology

1967	Born January 1 in Miami, Florida, to Robert James Thomas and Edith Morgan
1972	Father's plane shot down by North Vietnamese on December 17
1980	Thomas' father declared legally dead
1981	Arrested for breaking into a store and sentenced to a school for troubled kids
1984	Earns All-League honors at South Miami High School
1985	Enters Alabama on scholarship to play with Crimson Tide
1989	Drafted fourth overall by Kansas City Chiefs
1990	Sets NFL single-game sack record by sacking Seattle QB David Krieg 7 times, forcing two fumbles
1990	Establishes the Third and Long Foundation, a charitable foundation focused on encouraging children to read and pursue their educational goals
1997	Injures left triceps tendon and is out for four games; still earns spot on Pro Bowl team by end of year
1998	Suspended for a week after being penalized three times in one defensive series in a game against Denver
1999	Playing as a pass-rusher, records only seven sacks
2000	Paralyzed on January 23 in car accident near Kansas City, Missouri
2000	Dies on February 8 from cardio-respiratory arrest

The impact of Thomas' death was felt across the country, as fans mourned him for the loss of a great man as well as the tragic loss of a great football player.