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Derrick Thomas Should Get in the Hall of Fame Today
Feb. 1, 2008
Here’s why I think so many people get emotional about Halls of Fame: It’s because we want these Halls to justify what we saw and what we believe about sports. And, often, the Halls of Fame just don’t do it.
For instance, many people around Kansas City who watched Otis Taylor play football week in and week out know, absolutely know, that he was one of the greatest receivers who ever lived. He could do everything. He dominated games.
Many people around Kansas City who watched Frank White play every day know, absolutely know, that he was a defensive artist, he made plays that no second baseman, before or since, made. He also hit cleanup in the World Series.
The fact that Taylor cannot get a second look for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the fact that White dropped off the baseball Hall of Fame ballot after only one year, these do not just feel like slaps at them. They are slaps at memory.
Well, every sports town has its own ignored Hall of Fame candidates. In Detroit it’s Alan Trammell, in Chicago it’s Ron Santo, in Utah it’s Adrian Dantley, in Dallas it’s Bullet Bob Hayes. Still, some Hall of Fame snubs seem worse than others. Today, I hope, the Pro Football Hall of Fame voters will finally vote in Derrick Thomas. It has taken too long.
I do think Thomas will finally get the Hall call today; if he doesn’t get in this year, then it might not happen. The ballot looks wide open. There are no quarterbacks on this year’s ballot — usually quarterbacks jump to the front of the line. And only two first-year players, defensive back Darrell Green and receiver Cris Carter, seem like strong candidates to make it. So that leaves three or four open spots. It is Thomas’ time.
People in Kansas City have wildly different views of Thomas because of his generosity, his recklessness, his lifestyle, his charisma. Some of those people are writing angry or nostalgic e-mails about him right now. He had many sides.
But as a football player, he was just plain electrifying. It’s so difficult to define exactly what makes a great defensive football player. Numbers don’t quite do it, testimonials from players don’t quite do it either. Even highlights don’t quite do it. This is why it’s so difficult for defensive players to make the Hall of Fame. The voters just can’t agree.
That point was being made again and again this week — the Hall of Fame is too offensive right now. Take the last 25 years of pro football. Only three linebackers in their prime from that time — Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary and Harry Carson — are in the Hall of Fame. That’s it. Over those same 25 years, eight quarterbacks have been inducted, five running backs, even six offensive linemen — who are supposed to be overlooked. The voters have just not figured out a good way to recognize defensive brilliance.
And Thomas is an especially hard player to measure because his greatness involved making the big play. Sure, he has numbers. He had more sacks than anyone else in the 1990s and — get this — he had a higher sack-per-game average than the man acknowledged to be the most devastating pass-rushing linebacker ever, Lawrence Taylor. More than that, his devastating Kansas City Strip move forced 45 fumbles, and that’s 12 more than Taylor.
You can also point out that in Thomas’ prime years, the Chiefs went to the playoffs seven times — the Chiefs went to the playoffs just once in the previous 18 years years before he arrived, and just twice since his untimely death. The Chiefs also finished with the NFL’s No. 1 scoring defense twice. He transformed Kansas City football. Derrick Thomas, as much as anyone, is why 78,000 people show up at Arrowhead Stadium even now.
But even all that doesn’t do him justice. Thomas changed games. Football is not a tidy and precise sport like baseball — it’s not a game where you can look at a box score afterward and have a good idea what happened. You play football in snow and mud. The ball bounces funny. Penalties keep drives going. Vicious hits can alter the whole game. It’s chaos out there, which is why coaches always say that the one player they admire most is the playmaker, the guy who in the midst of it all finds a way to do something, anything, that can make the difference between victory and defeat.
And in that, Derrick Thomas was as good as anyone I’ve ever seen. He could be neutralized for three quarters, but he would find a way to make that one sack that ended a threat, or force that one fumble that changed momentum, or hit that quarterback at exactly the right time to cause the game-ending interception.
Sure, it is emotional. It’s personal. I know what I saw. We all did. Derrick Thomas was a football player who earned his spot in the Hall of Fame. You’ve just got to hope that those Hall of Fame voters had their eyes open, too.
from Kansas City.com
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