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Son of Derrick Thomas earns shot with late father’s NFL team
By Andrew Olson
Published:
The son of an Alabama great recently went undrafted, but that didn’t stop him from getting to wear the same NFL jersey as his late father.
Donnell Alexander is the son of Derrick Thomas, an NFL Hall of Fame inductee who played for the Kansas City Chiefs, and before that, Alabama. Alexander started his college career at Colorado State and completed it at Akron. Though he does not remember much of his father’s days in Kansas City, playing for the Chiefs would be a dream come true.
“It’s a surreal experience,” Alexander told Tod Palmer of the Kansas City Star. “No matter what, I think I would have come here regardless and at least tried out, because this is where I would love to be — a Chief.”
Thomas played at Alabama from 1986-’88 as a linebacker, earning the Dick Butkus Award and consensus All-American honors in his final season. He was the No. 4 overall selection by the Chiefs in ’89, where he played his entire career through the ’99 season. In January 2000, Thomas was paralyzed in a car accident. He died that February of complications from the injuries suffered in the cash.
Though most of Alexander’s memories of Thomas “come from film,” he relished the opportunity to wear the Chiefs uniform.
“My father playing here, that’s very important,” Alexander said. “I definitely have to come out here and work hard, try to display some talent and show them that I can help contribute.”
That hard work was definitely noticed by Chiefs coach Andy Reid.
“I thought he did a real nice job,” Reid said. “He’s actually got a tattoo on the back of his neck that’s pretty neat with an arrowhead and the whole deal. How many guys have an arrowhead tattoo at all? But he’s got that, and I know he’s proud of his dad.”
The Chiefs went the extra mile in welcoming Alexander, letting him wear No. 31, which belonged to his idol, Chiefs great Priest Holmes.
“When I saw it, I was happy,” Alexander said. “I was telling everybody, ‘Man, I got Priest Holmes’ number.’ I was very fortunate to get this number. I appreciated it.”
Alexander was one of four undrafted running backs invited to the three-day Chiefs rookie camp, which wrapped up Monday.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
