Feb. 16, 2007
The late sports columnist Red Smith once wrote that three letters from readers on a subject was a great outpouring of public sentiment. That was in the days before e-mail. Red would have to increase that number a bit in this wired society.
In all the years I've covered the game of football - a task that began on a part-time basis in 1977 and a full-time basis in 1979 - nothing has generated as much mail as the Hall of Fame. Whether it's before the annual selection meeting on Super Bowl Saturday, immediately after that year's class is announced or over the 11 months in between, the Hall stirs up passion.
After the annual vote and Super Bowl in Miami, I snuck away for a few days of vacation. Back less than a week I still haven't gotten through all my e-mail on this year's events.
As you can imagine, there are plenty of questions and comments about another disappointment for Derrick Thomas. As the voting member of the committee from Kansas City, I feel compelled to educate and inform Chiefs fans on the process and what happens in the meeting room. By rules of the Hall, actual discussion must remain confidential. At no time are vote totals revealed even to the committee. This year's group was 40 voters, including the first two women to be part of the process.
Let me explain how I prepare for this vote each year. When I get an opportunity to ask a veteran player or coach, or an ex-player or coach about nominees, I do. I take notes. I research during the year. When the list is cut to 17, I do as much investigation as I can muster. By the time I get on the plane to the Super Bowl site I have made up my mind on how I'm going to cast my ballots.
In 12 years, I've heard a lot of presentations in those meetings. Some were very good. Some were awful. Most were informative. None changed my vote. Some solidified my thinking. Others made me recalculate theories or numbers I had come up with, but none convinced me to change my vote.
In each of the three votes that D.T. has been eligible I have gone into the meeting room with different feelings. The first year I was sure he would be a first-ballot entrant, obviously revealing a bit of naiveté on my part. The second time I knew he had no chance based on the rest of the finalist group and the way the winds were blowing before the Saturday morning meeting.
This year, I thought his chances were good. Not great, but good. I was getting strong feedback from the other selectors. Some of the more knowledgeable members of the committee told me it looked good. My presentation of D.T. was the best of the three that I've done. Following me came four more members of the committee who rose and spoke of his qualifications for induction. Not a single negative was expressed by anyone, something that was also different from the previous two years.
There were 17 finalists and the committee's first vote was to reduce that number to 10. Because of a tie, 11 names moved into the second round of voting. Thomas made that cut, but that's when I sensed trouble. Also making the cut were defensive ends Richard Dent and Fred Dean and linebacker Andre Tippett. That meant four of the last 11 were pass rushers and that was going to split up a lot of the vote.
The next cutdown was to the final six and sure enough all four pass rushers were gone. As one selector said “they sacked each other.” All of the remaining players got enough yes votes on the third ballot for induction: Bruce Matthews, Charlie Sanders, Gene Hickerson, Michael Irvin and Roger Wehrli.
And with that final announcement of the class of 2007 began the avalanche of mail. The Art Monk fans in Washington are very well organized and they can fill up an e-mail box faster than Monk could run pass routes. They were especially irate given Irvin's induction, citing all of the Cowboys receiver's off-field problems and Monk's clean slate. Which leads to the reminder that the Hall's rules to the voting committee state that we are to consider only on-field efforts.
Some fans, and more than a few league officials, were upset that former commissioner Paul Tagliabue didn't even make the cut to 11. Tagliabue did a lot for the NFL, but what's the hurry on punching his ticket to Canton? There are a logjam of players who can't get in.
Obviously, the bulk of my mail was about D.T. I would put the tenor of those into three categories. The majority wanted an explanation of how D.T. did not get in. Others began with “you guys are idiots if you can't see that he should be in the Hall.” The third group are the ones fanned by some of the tin-throats in sports talk radio that believe somehow Bob Gretz is holding up D.T.'s induction.
For the majority, I hope I've explained a little more about the process and what happened. What does this mean for Derrick Thomas and his chances of becoming a Hall of Famer? Right now, D.T. is among a group of about five or six players that is hovering right on the cusp on induction. That group includes Bob Kuchenberg, Gary Zimmerman, Richard Dent and Art Monk. He's going to make it. I just can't tell you when.
What are the negatives effecting D.T.? There are voters who consider him a one-dimensional player. There are others that think he did not produce in the playoffs. There is also an unspoken bias against defensive players. As I mentioned earlier in the week, in the seven induction classes in the 2000s, there have been 42 men inducted and only 10 have been defensive players. In the last three classes (since Thomas has been eligible) there have been just three defensive players among 16 inductees.
For the “you guys are idiots” group, I must simply say I agree. I think D.T.'s a Hall of Famer and I can't believe his bust isn't already in Canton.
I should ignore the third group, but I know the talk show mumblers always need something to get them through another show.
What follows is my presentation in Miami. It's not a transcript, but an outline that I carried into the room:
“We've talked about some great players here this morning and I've got another one to introduce into the mix. Derrick Thomas was the impact defensive player of his generation. The numbers and testimony are there to back up that claim. Over his 11 seasons, he was a factor to be accounted for on every play. He was a defensive player that changed the games he played in. And it wasn't just the games on Sunday or Monday night. He affected the weeks leading up to games, because he had to be accounted for on each snap.
I've quoted before and will again if anybody would like to hear, the comments from coaches like Marv Levy, Dan Reeves, Mike Shanahan, Tom Flores, Art Shell, Jim Fassel and Bill Cowher, along with quarterbacks like John Elway, Jim Kelly, Warren Moon, Dave Krieg and Steve Young about the effect Thomas had on game preparation.
Despite that attention, despite the efforts to control him, Thomas still produced on the field. He was the game changing defensive player of the 1990s. That's why he was voted into nine Pro Bowls and was seven times 1st or 2nd team All-Pro by media voters. He holds the NFL record with seven sacks in a single game; that came during the 1990 season, his second year in the league. His six-sack game came during his 10th season … this guy was a top pass rusher throughout his career, from start to his unexpected finish. That's two of the top three sack games in NFL history.
There were his 126.5 sacks in 169 games. But it wasn't just the sacks, it was what came from those plays and that's takeaways. He caused 45 fumbles, recovered 19 fumbles, and scored four touchdowns and three safeties. Thanks to the research of Rick Gosselin, I want to focus on those 45 fumbles caused. That number ranks him at the top of pass rushers in the league over the last 20 years when it comes to knocking the ball loose.
It was not just the sack with Derrick Thomas; it was the takeaway. Rick has more of these numbers but the key is this: the only other defensive player who could match the mayhem Thomas created with his 45 fumbles caused was Bruce Smith, who also forced 45 fumbles. But Bruce Smith did that in 110 more games than Thomas played. Again, Thomas caused 45 fumbles in 169 games. Smith caused 45 fumbles in 269 games.
Said John Elway: “He was always grabbing with his left arm, while chopping at your arm with his right hand. He had more in mind than killing the quarterback, he wanted the ball.”
Said Jim Kelly: “If I was a coach today, I would show my pass rushers a highlight tape of Derrick and teach them that style, going for the turnover.”
Added Art Shell: “The sack with a turnover, that's as devastating a play as there is in the game and that was Derrick.”
In his 11 years, the Chiefs made the playoffs seven times, and had just one season with a losing record. In that time, the Chiefs defense ranked among the best in the NFL. The Chiefs ranked on average: 9th in yards allowed, 9th in sacks, 7th in takeaways and 5th in points allowed and 10th in rushing yards allowed. He was the catalyst behind those numbers. To get to the third and long downs and the pass rush, he had to help stop the run on first down. That's something the Chiefs defense did quite well over the 1990s. Again, he was the catalyst.
Derrick Thomas was a true impact player. It was Hall of Famer Jackie Slater who gave me the definition of an impact player as one who effects the 11 guys on the other side of the line of scrimmage, and the 10 guys playing with him. That was Derrick Thomas.
A player who was the best of his generation and by the acclimation of his opponents was a dominant factor in any game he played deserves a place in the Hall of Fame.”
from KC Chiefs.com
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