The same tears, thoughts of why this happened, and overall grief that the residents of Los Angeles (California) are feeling over Kobe Bryant, supporters of Alabama football endured it two decades ago on this date.
He never got the chance to know his father, so Crimson Tide fans looked to him as their son.
Derrick Thomas lost his father, Robert James Thomas, to a mission in the Vietnam War.
A native of Miami, Fla., Thomas’ father was an Air Force Captain and B-52 pilot. For most sons in a single-parent home, the mothers do a wonderful yet they long to be with their fathers. Thomas, like many Tide players before and after him, found solace in football.
He was a star linebacker at South Miami High School and when college came calling, he would be face-to-face with a nation of people that grew to love him. Alabama was on top of the college football world during the 24-year run of Paul W. “Bear” Bryant as head coach. He won six national championships and 13 Southeastern Conference titles – including back-to-back national titles in 1964-65 and 1978-79. His successors, Ray Perkins and Bill Curry, both struggled to reach the same success yet Thomas kept the two relevant in the eyes of fans with his style.
He entered a program where Cornelius “Biscuit” Bennett was the big man on campus; however, the nation would soon see how special Thomas was. Despite being a good player around Bennett, Sylvester Croom would witness the rise of a monster in Bennett’s departure.
Thomas would not only set the school’s single-season record for sacks (27) in 1988, but he also set the NCAA’s single-season sacks mark and he did it in a way that scared every offensive minded coach and quarterback in the sport. His style was so compelling that Bill Curry put together a defensive look just for him. The “stalk formation” was one where Thomas lined up at different spots on the field and attacked quarterbacks from various angles. Teams could not block him, because they never could get a read on where he would line up. He revolutionized the game as a defensive player, winning the Dick Butkus Award and unanimous All-American honors.
Although stats were not kept in the 1980’s, Thomas’s mark of 52 career sacks remains as the NCAA record.
After bringing joy to Tide fans and making his mother proud, the National Football League awaited Thomas and he was a first-round pick of the 1989 NFL Draft. His legions of fans were counting multiple Super Bowls, Defensive MVP honors and All-Pro honors. Thomas arrived in Kansas City with the attitude of bringing the franchise a Vince Lombardi Trophy. His talent and work ethic captivated coaches, as he won Defensive Rookie of the Year and punched his ticket to the first of nine Pro Bowls in 1989.
For 11 years (1989-99), the man that had a void in his life was cherished by Alabama fans and NFL fans across the world.
He never got his Super Bowl, but Arrowhead Stadium was packed out each season to watch No. 58 embarrass offensive linemen and force quarterbacks to clean dirt out their helmets.
Thomas led the NFL in sacks (1990), he won the league’s Man of the Year award (1993), and he made first-team All-Pro three times. Things were looking up for him and on top of that, Thomas started to tap into his philanthropy side in 1990.
He founded the Derrick Thomas Third and Long Foundation.
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Even in his troublesome childhood, he was big on reading.
His mission for the foundation was to “sack illiteracy” and change the lives of 9- to 13-year old children who grew up in rough situations in the Kansas City area.
At the core of him, Thomas had a heart for people.
The turn of the millennium would prove to a rough moment to bear for Alabama nation and professional football. On Jan. 23, 2000, Thomas and two passengers would be in a tragic accident as they were headed to the Kansas City International Airport.
Thomas’s 1999 Cheverlot Suburban went off Interstate 435 in a snowstorm as he was speeding at 70 miles per hour, in trying to make it to the airport. He was not wearing a seatbelt and unfortunately, the vehicle slid out of control and it threw all three of them out. While only one person emerged without injuries, Thomas was left paralyzed from his chest down.
It was incredibly scary, but many thought Thomas was invincible.
Even in a wheelchair, he smiled and put everything into his rehab. Thomas was a fighter and from the outside looking in, a lot of people believed he would be okay. Then, the morning of February 8 came. As he was heading to therapy, he told his mother that he wasn’t feeling well.
The man who had become a son to everyone and a legend to others went into cardiorespiratory arrest, and died of a blood clot that developed in his legs and traveled to his lungs.
People instantly felt numb.
If one never thought something could stand on the same level as Bear Bryant’s funeral, Thomas’s did. Millions came from both Alabama and the Kansas City Chiefs to pay tribute to him.
In his life, Thomas spoke to those who grew up in single-parent homes, he spoke to those that came up in rough situations, and his message was to defy the odds. He made the NFL’s All-Decade for the 1990s and in his death, the Chiefs retired his No. 58 jersey. Both College and the NFL did the honors of inducting him into the Hall of the Fame and for the man that had 126.5 career sacks, the football gods allowed to him behold the dream he always wanted.
On Sunday, Kansas City defeated San Francisco in Super Bowl 54 to capture its first NFL Championship in 50 years.
In honor of Thomas, Chiefs’ defensive end Frank Clark wore No. 58 in the championship parade.
Since his death, a generation of pass rushers have entered the NFL. At Alabama, fans are waiting to see who can put them in the mind frame of Thomas.
With each freshman class, people may see one or two guys flashes of being like the legend yet none have come close. While some are hopeful of five-star William “Will” Anderson, Thomas stands in a class of his own and the Tide would not have it any other way.
This is the day to value him and be thankful of what he provided.
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Stephen M. Smith is the managing editor and senior writer for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can “like” him on Facebook or “follow” him on Twitter, via @CoachingMSmith.
