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It’s been 26 years since his collegiate career ended, and 14 since Derrick Thomas died.
But finally, with the selection committee finding a spot for him in the 62nd induction class for the College Football Hall of Fame, the debate can go from “Why hasn’t he landed the accolades he deserves?” to “Is he the greatest defensive player to ever suit up for the University of Alabama?”
“Whenever I see those crimson jerseys and crimson helmets, I feel humbled to have played football for Alabama,” Thomas once said. “Other players in the NFL talk to me about their schools and their traditions, I just smile knowing the immense love Alabama fans have for our school and its football program. I’m proud to be part of that Crimson Tide heritage.”
Today, Thomas will be posthumously honored during Alabama’s game against Southern Miss (6 p.m. ET, ESPN2) as part of the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute series. Thomas’ mother Edith Morgan will represent the family during the on-field ceremony.
“Derrick Thomas’ career at Alabama is legendary,” Director of Athletics Bill Battle said in a release. “One of the most dominant linebackers to ever play the position, he was a game-changing player who to this day, more than 25 years after the close of his collegiate career, still owns several Crimson Tide records. We are proud and honored to see him inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, an organization with which The University of Alabama has a long and distinguished history.”
The 1988 Butkus Award winner as the nation’s top linebacker, Thomas was credited with 204 tackles, 74 tackles for loss, 10 forced fumbles, two safeties and nine blocked kicks. He also had 52 sacks, which is the Southeastern Conference career record, and 27 his final year.
Yet Thomas listed among the NCAA’s all-time sacks leaders because it didn’t start including defensive categories in the official statistics until 2000, even though most conferences and schools had started keeping track by 1982. Thus, Terrell Suggs of Arizona State (2000-02) has the official career record with 44, and Arizona’s Tedy Bruschi (1991-85), who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame last December, solely has the single-season mark of 27.
Since Thomas took his last snap with the Crimson Tide, no SEC player has had more than 36 career sacks (Georgia’s David Pollack, 2001-04), and even Tennessee legend Reggie White only had 32 sacks (1980-83). Among Alabama players, Kindal Moorehead (1998-2002) is distant second on the program’s all-time list with 25. The most by a player during the Nick Saban era is Wallace Gilberry with 10 in 2007.
“I just want to thank God for blessing me with some athletic talent and letting me play for the University of Alabama,” Thomas said after winning the program’s first of three Butkus awards, having since been joined by Rolando McClain (2009) and C.J. Mosley (2013). In addition to the sacks he also had an amazing 39 tackles for a loss and 45 quarterback hurries.
It led to his finishing 10th in Heisman Trophy voting, and being the fourth-overall selection in the subsequent draft behind Troy Aikman, Tony Mandarich and Barry Sanders, and ahead of Deion Sanders.
To get an idea of the kind stories that will be told about Thomas when the induction ceremony is held in December consider what Carl Peterson, the former president, general manager and chief executive officer of the Kansas City Chiefs, said during his 26-minute tear-causing speech to enshrine his former player into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009:
“In the spring of 1989, myself, Marty Schottenheimer and Bill Cowher went to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to work out a player we hoped to consider for our number-one draft choice. He was an extraordinary person and his head coach at Alabama, said ‘Great player, great person and you’ll never tire the young man out.’
“Thomas didn’t work out for us at the NFL Combine and we were a little hot about it. It was a very hot day in Tuscaloosa on the astroturf and Bill Cowher began to work him out. He worked him out, and he worked him out.
“He gave him every linebacker drill he knew. He came back to Marty and said, ‘What do you think?’ After every drill, Derrick would come back, give us that smile, that unbelievable smile, and say, ‘Coach what else would you like to see?’
“I said, ‘Let’s see some more.’ Bill gave him all the defensive line drills, one drill after another after another. And every time, after the drill, Derrick would come over and smile at us and say, ‘What else would you like to see?’
“There were four of his teammates working out with us at that time too. And by now they had fallen away totally exhausted. Bill Cowher came back and said, ‘I’m running out of drills.’ I said, ‘Let’s just see some more.’
“He drilled him with all the defensive backs drills that he knew. Bill came back and said, ‘I’m all out of drills and I’m exhausted.’
“We knew we had a special guy here.”
Thomas was Peterson’s first draft pick after joining the Chiefs in 1989 and became the cornerstone of the franchise for the next decade when it would notch more than 100 victories.
That first year alone he had 75 tackles, 10 sacks, three fumbles caused, two fumbles recovered, and was named defensive rookie of the year. For an encore he had 20 sacks as an NFL sophomore including a record seven in one game against Seattle.
During his 11-year pro career the Chiefs had a combined plus-120 turnover ratio, well ahead of the next-best team the New York Giants (+67). Thomas was responsible for 65 of those takeaways. He sacked 46 different NFL quarterbacks, topped by John Elway 17 times.
“Derrick wasn’t just satisfied with a sack,” Elway once said. “He wanted a turnover, he wanted the fumble. He had more on his mind than killing the quarterback. He wanted the ball.”
The nine-time All-Pro selection established franchise career records for sacks (126.5), safeties (three), fumble recoveries (18), and forced fumbles (45).
“I do not think I feared any player on the football field,” Hall of Fame running back and at one point teammate Marcus Allen said. “But I came close with Derrick Thomas. He made life miserable for offenses trying to block him.”
Meanwhile, many of his off-the-field efforts were just as successful, like the “Third and Long Foundation” he created to encourage inner-city kids to read. Thomas was honored with the Walter Payton award as the NFL’s Man of the Year, the NFLPA’s Byron Whizzer White humanitarian award, and something that no other professional football player received from President George H. Bush, No. 832 in his “thousand points of light.”
“For me, my goals are a lot higher than just being a successful linebacker or being All-Pro,” Thomas said after the 1994 season. “When my career is over I want people to look back and view me as the best, or one of the two best to ever play the position.”
Thomas was just 33 when he died when a massive blood clot that had developed in his paralyzed lower extremities following a car accident traveled to his lungs. He’ll now become just the fourth Alabama player to be inducted into both the college and pro hall of fame, joining Don Hutson, Johna Hannah and Ozzie Newsome, and first on the defensive side.
“Derrick Thomas was a true hero,” state senator and former Chiefs quarterback Bill Kenney said while asking for a moment of silence from the Missouri legislature on Feb. 8, 2000, the day Thomas passed away. “He will be missed by football fans around the nation, but we will miss him in Kansas City for his attitude and his efforts he put forth in our community.”
Christopher Walsh has covered Alabama football since 2004 and is the author of 19 books. In his free time, he writes about college football.
