Daily Dose of Crimson Tide: Derrick Thomas

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2000, Missouri state Sen. Bill Kenney, a former quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, made the somber announcement and asked for a moment of silence.

“Derrick Thomas was a true hero,” he said. “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.”

Thomas was driving an SUV during a snowstorm on January 23 as he and two friends headed to the Kansas City airport to fly to St. Louis for the NFC Championship game. He lost control of the vehicle and it overturned at least three times, police said. One of the friends was immediately killed, and, not wearing a seatbelt, Thomas sustained a severe spinal injury, resulting in paralysis from the chest down. He died a little more than two weeks later due to a massive blood clot in an artery between his lungs and his heart.

The nine-time All-Pro linebacker was just 33.

“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 Butkus Award as the nation’s top linebacker his senior season in 1988. He had an amazing 27 sacks that season, and finished tenth in voting for the Heisman Trophy.

Thomas also once said: “Whenever I see those crimson jerseys and crimson helmets, I feel humbled to have played football for Alabama. 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.”

When the Chiefs made him the fourth-overall selection in the 1989 National Football League draft, team president Carl Peterson called it a new “beginning” for the organization. Thomas recorded 10 sacks that initial season and named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

For an encore, Thomas had 20 sacks in 1990, the fifth-best season in NFL history, and helped lead the Chiefs to the playoffs. While doing so, Thomas set a league single-game record with seven sacks against the Seattle Seahawks, and just missed an eighth when quarterback Dave Krieg was able to slip from his grasp to throw the game-winning touchdown on the final play. Despite the loss on Veteran’s Day, Thomas dedicated his performance to his father, an Air Force pilot killed in Vietnam during Operation Linebacker II.

“I was on a mission today,” Thomas said following the game. “I read in the paper that Derrick Thomas was in a sack slump.”

Thomas established franchise career records for sacks (126.5), safeties (three), fumble recoveries (18), and forced fumbles (45). The 126.5 sacks were the fourth-highest total ever by a linebacker at the time of his death.

Additionally, Thomas started the “Third and Long Foundation” to encourage inner-city reading, received the ’93 NFL Man of the Year Award, the ’95 Byron “Whizzer” White Award from the NFL Players Association, and was President George Bush’s “832nd Point 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.”

Some of this post originated from "100 Things Crimson tide Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die," published by Triumph Books