#58.....MY MEMORIES OF DERRICK THOMAS
For over a month, I've written notes, all over my house & even in my truck, about Derrick Thomas. As a Chiefs' fan old enough to have seen the very first Chiefs game in person, I wanted to put his legacy in the proper perspective. So as I sit before this monitor, with various notepads, post-its & plain old scraps covered with memories & thoughts of #58, I will try to honor Derrick Thomas in a way not only Chiefs fans will embrace, but football fans in general.
I'll come clean right away by telling you Otis Taylor & Buck Buchanan have always been my favorite Chiefs players. Not only were they great players(Buck's in, now let's get Otis in the HOF!) on the greatest Chiefs teams of all-time, but in an era of greater accessibility, many average fans on the street met them, talked to them & thought of them as friends. I had the opportunity to talk to both players on numerous occasions, they were as terrific in person as they were on the football field. I never met Derrick Thomas, I didn't even live in Kansas City while he was playing for the Chiefs, but I'm convinced a 5-minute conversation with him would have made me feel as special as Otis & Buck did. Just his smile alone was so infectious, you couldn't help but smile at the TV while he was being interviewed.
Though we didn't live in K.C. from '85 to '05, living in Las Vegas allowed us to watch every Chiefs game in a sportsbook. Certainly not the best venue for enjoying your favorite team, but you could see them play every Sunday nevertheless. Later, when DirecTV came along, we were among the very first subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket in 1995, allowing us to watch every single game in the comfort of our family room. But in 1990, I had already begun a yearly tradition, a trip to Arrowhead to see the Chiefs in person. The first game I went to was on November 11th, Veterans Day, versus the Seattle Seahawks. Thanks to my 'best man' Mike, I had a perfect view from the 45-yard line in the club level, I witnessed NFL history. History that still stands to this day. A stirring version of "The Star Spangled Banner", followed by an Air Force flyover, made me very proud to be an Air Force veteran. That day was special to D.T. as well. His father, Air Force Captain James Thomas, a B-52 pilot, was killed in Viet Nam when Derrick was just 5 years old. Thomas always wore an Air Force T-shirt under his pads on Sunday & claimed the flyovers always inspired him. On that Veteran's Day, Derrick Thomas sacked Seattle QB Dave Krieg 7 times. It didn't matter that after sack #4 he would have to beat a double-team for sacks 5, 6 & 7, he was truly unstoppable. On the game's last play, Krieg barely slipped Thomas' attempt at #8 & threw the game-winning touchdown pass. Later that night as I watched the local TV sports post mortem on the game, Thomas was interviewed & his electric smile was absent. The record meant nothing, they had lost the game because he couldn't wrap up Seattle's quarterback one last time.
The following year, I came to Arrowhead for a Monday Night matchup with the defending AFC Champs, the Buffalo Bills. Attending the game with life-long buds, Mark & Bill, made it very special, but D.T. was the real show. He sacked Jim Kelly 4 times & his now famous 'chop' move, caused Kelly to fumble 3 times. He set the tone as the Chiefs demolished Buffalo 33-6. Another trip brought Joe & I back to Arrowhead from Vegas to sit in Mike's seats for the '97 Denver game. Joe's favorite QB of all-time was Elway, so when the hated #7 was dragged down at the 1-yard line by #58 for his 100th career sack, it was electric in that stadium. Thomas sacked Elway more than any other quarterback. I have a picture of that sack along with my ticket stub framed in my bar. Once again Derrick Thomas helped change the momentum in a game the Chiefs were losing. The fact that Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 54-yard field goal on the game's last play to win, just made the memory even better.
Remember the Sunday Night game versus the hated Oakland Raiders in which Thomas sacked Jeff George 5 times? He 'chopped' the ball loose from George & DE Eric Hicks picked up the fumble & ran it in from about 60 yards. A field level TV camera recorded both the forced fumble as well as Thomas' ear-to-ear grin as he sat on the Arrowhead turf watching Hicks ramble for the touchdown.
Thomas was one of the few defensive players in the NFL that had to be accounted for on every single snap. I never saw a quicker first step than Thomas had, he appeared to be off-side a lot of the time. Slow motion instant replay showed he wasn't but it also showed how much quicker he was than everyone else. Attention paid to him only helped his teammates. Neil Smith recorded over 90 sacks playing opposite Thomas. James Hasty & Dale Carter certainly got more interceptions playing with Thomas as he constantly hurried QBs into throwing before they wanted to. He was a 9-time Pro Bowl performer, he was the 1989 defensive rookie of the year & was the 1993 Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner for his charitable work with his foundation, Third and Long. The work he started to help children to read is still going on today in Kansas City.
His 45 forced fumbles is still an NFL record. He posted 126.5 sacks in his 11 seasons, there certainly would have been more if not for the accident. On January 23, 2000, Thomas & two friends were headed to the Kansas City airport to fly to St Louis to watch the NFC Championship game. On an icy highway Thomas lost control & their SUV flipped over. Thomas, not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle as was another passenger. The one seatbelt wearer, walked away without a scratch. Thomas was paralyzed from the chest down & on February 8th, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, a massive blood clot to the lungs & died. He was just 33 years old. The city, as well as fans nationally, mourned Thomas' passing. Tens of thousands of fans waited in freezing weather to offer their last respects on the field at Arrowhead. A standing-room only service for over 10,000 turned away thousands. The gold & red '58' buttons were worn all over the city for weeks, you still see them at Arrowhead as well as many Thomas jerseys in the crowd.
Derrion Thomas, one of Derrick's sons, will walk-on at Mizzou this fall. He didn't play any football until his senior year at Blue Springs South, he had always been a swimmer, but he finally came to football last season. As Blue Springs South prepared to play Rockhurst, many time state champ in 6A football, Allen Wright, Chiefs assistant equipment manager called Thomas' mother wanting to speak with Derrion. He told him to come by Arrowhead before the game. When Derrion met Wright, he was given the last uniform his father had before his accident. He decided to wear his dad's shoulder pads in the Rockhurst game. In Blue Spring South's 14-9 upset win, Thomas recorded 5 sacks. That story courtesy of Peter King of SI.com.
Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star pointed out Thomas was far from a complete player, he was benched during the Championship Game with Buffalo in 1993 because the Bills were running right at him & he couldn't stop them. But few can argue his ability to take over a game as a pass rusher. As Teicher put it so well "the great ones often have one dominant skill & use it to alter games". He's absolutely, 100% on the mark.
So what came out of Derrick's time on this earth? Many school children were aided in their efforts to learn to read. The Missouri Highway Patrol said seat belt use was up substantially after Thomas' accident & stayed there. One thing else he did for Kansas City, he almost single handedly revived a cities love for their football team. Hank, Lenny, Buck, Bobby, Otis & Willie built the relationship with Kansas City fans. That love all but died in the 70s & 80s. But in 1989, a first round draft pick from the University of Alabama with a electric smile & talent that hadn't been seen at Arrowhead in decades, brought them back. He was the foundation that their great defense was built around. Yeah, Carl & Marty were the architects, but Derrick Thomas was the face of Kansas City football. Certainly more than Joe Montana or Marcus Allen, #58 could make a whole city smile right along with him & they loved him for it.
I'll come clean right away by telling you Otis Taylor & Buck Buchanan have always been my favorite Chiefs players. Not only were they great players(Buck's in, now let's get Otis in the HOF!) on the greatest Chiefs teams of all-time, but in an era of greater accessibility, many average fans on the street met them, talked to them & thought of them as friends. I had the opportunity to talk to both players on numerous occasions, they were as terrific in person as they were on the football field. I never met Derrick Thomas, I didn't even live in Kansas City while he was playing for the Chiefs, but I'm convinced a 5-minute conversation with him would have made me feel as special as Otis & Buck did. Just his smile alone was so infectious, you couldn't help but smile at the TV while he was being interviewed.
Though we didn't live in K.C. from '85 to '05, living in Las Vegas allowed us to watch every Chiefs game in a sportsbook. Certainly not the best venue for enjoying your favorite team, but you could see them play every Sunday nevertheless. Later, when DirecTV came along, we were among the very first subscribers to NFL Sunday Ticket in 1995, allowing us to watch every single game in the comfort of our family room. But in 1990, I had already begun a yearly tradition, a trip to Arrowhead to see the Chiefs in person. The first game I went to was on November 11th, Veterans Day, versus the Seattle Seahawks. Thanks to my 'best man' Mike, I had a perfect view from the 45-yard line in the club level, I witnessed NFL history. History that still stands to this day. A stirring version of "The Star Spangled Banner", followed by an Air Force flyover, made me very proud to be an Air Force veteran. That day was special to D.T. as well. His father, Air Force Captain James Thomas, a B-52 pilot, was killed in Viet Nam when Derrick was just 5 years old. Thomas always wore an Air Force T-shirt under his pads on Sunday & claimed the flyovers always inspired him. On that Veteran's Day, Derrick Thomas sacked Seattle QB Dave Krieg 7 times. It didn't matter that after sack #4 he would have to beat a double-team for sacks 5, 6 & 7, he was truly unstoppable. On the game's last play, Krieg barely slipped Thomas' attempt at #8 & threw the game-winning touchdown pass. Later that night as I watched the local TV sports post mortem on the game, Thomas was interviewed & his electric smile was absent. The record meant nothing, they had lost the game because he couldn't wrap up Seattle's quarterback one last time.
The following year, I came to Arrowhead for a Monday Night matchup with the defending AFC Champs, the Buffalo Bills. Attending the game with life-long buds, Mark & Bill, made it very special, but D.T. was the real show. He sacked Jim Kelly 4 times & his now famous 'chop' move, caused Kelly to fumble 3 times. He set the tone as the Chiefs demolished Buffalo 33-6. Another trip brought Joe & I back to Arrowhead from Vegas to sit in Mike's seats for the '97 Denver game. Joe's favorite QB of all-time was Elway, so when the hated #7 was dragged down at the 1-yard line by #58 for his 100th career sack, it was electric in that stadium. Thomas sacked Elway more than any other quarterback. I have a picture of that sack along with my ticket stub framed in my bar. Once again Derrick Thomas helped change the momentum in a game the Chiefs were losing. The fact that Pete Stoyanovich kicked a 54-yard field goal on the game's last play to win, just made the memory even better.
Remember the Sunday Night game versus the hated Oakland Raiders in which Thomas sacked Jeff George 5 times? He 'chopped' the ball loose from George & DE Eric Hicks picked up the fumble & ran it in from about 60 yards. A field level TV camera recorded both the forced fumble as well as Thomas' ear-to-ear grin as he sat on the Arrowhead turf watching Hicks ramble for the touchdown.
Thomas was one of the few defensive players in the NFL that had to be accounted for on every single snap. I never saw a quicker first step than Thomas had, he appeared to be off-side a lot of the time. Slow motion instant replay showed he wasn't but it also showed how much quicker he was than everyone else. Attention paid to him only helped his teammates. Neil Smith recorded over 90 sacks playing opposite Thomas. James Hasty & Dale Carter certainly got more interceptions playing with Thomas as he constantly hurried QBs into throwing before they wanted to. He was a 9-time Pro Bowl performer, he was the 1989 defensive rookie of the year & was the 1993 Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner for his charitable work with his foundation, Third and Long. The work he started to help children to read is still going on today in Kansas City.
His 45 forced fumbles is still an NFL record. He posted 126.5 sacks in his 11 seasons, there certainly would have been more if not for the accident. On January 23, 2000, Thomas & two friends were headed to the Kansas City airport to fly to St Louis to watch the NFC Championship game. On an icy highway Thomas lost control & their SUV flipped over. Thomas, not wearing a seatbelt, was thrown from the vehicle as was another passenger. The one seatbelt wearer, walked away without a scratch. Thomas was paralyzed from the chest down & on February 8th, he suffered a pulmonary embolism, a massive blood clot to the lungs & died. He was just 33 years old. The city, as well as fans nationally, mourned Thomas' passing. Tens of thousands of fans waited in freezing weather to offer their last respects on the field at Arrowhead. A standing-room only service for over 10,000 turned away thousands. The gold & red '58' buttons were worn all over the city for weeks, you still see them at Arrowhead as well as many Thomas jerseys in the crowd.
Derrion Thomas, one of Derrick's sons, will walk-on at Mizzou this fall. He didn't play any football until his senior year at Blue Springs South, he had always been a swimmer, but he finally came to football last season. As Blue Springs South prepared to play Rockhurst, many time state champ in 6A football, Allen Wright, Chiefs assistant equipment manager called Thomas' mother wanting to speak with Derrion. He told him to come by Arrowhead before the game. When Derrion met Wright, he was given the last uniform his father had before his accident. He decided to wear his dad's shoulder pads in the Rockhurst game. In Blue Spring South's 14-9 upset win, Thomas recorded 5 sacks. That story courtesy of Peter King of SI.com.
Adam Teicher of The Kansas City Star pointed out Thomas was far from a complete player, he was benched during the Championship Game with Buffalo in 1993 because the Bills were running right at him & he couldn't stop them. But few can argue his ability to take over a game as a pass rusher. As Teicher put it so well "the great ones often have one dominant skill & use it to alter games". He's absolutely, 100% on the mark.
So what came out of Derrick's time on this earth? Many school children were aided in their efforts to learn to read. The Missouri Highway Patrol said seat belt use was up substantially after Thomas' accident & stayed there. One thing else he did for Kansas City, he almost single handedly revived a cities love for their football team. Hank, Lenny, Buck, Bobby, Otis & Willie built the relationship with Kansas City fans. That love all but died in the 70s & 80s. But in 1989, a first round draft pick from the University of Alabama with a electric smile & talent that hadn't been seen at Arrowhead in decades, brought them back. He was the foundation that their great defense was built around. Yeah, Carl & Marty were the architects, but Derrick Thomas was the face of Kansas City football. Certainly more than Joe Montana or Marcus Allen, #58 could make a whole city smile right along with him & they loved him for it.
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