Derrick Thomas was a Terror for Offenses in the 1990s
Aug. 5, 2009
Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith had an understanding.
Whenever the Chiefs needed a big play from their defense, or if the team needed a lift during the 1990s, Smith and Thomas would exchange glances and whisper two words.
“Take over.”
“That was our motto, just ‘Take over,’ ” Smith said. “Singularly, he could do that.”
It might not have been a singular effort, but there’s little question Thomas’ ability to take over a game was the driving force behind the Chiefs’ revival in the 1990s.
It’s why Thomas, who died in 2000 from injuries suffered in an auto accident, will be posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night in Canton, Ohio.
“When you think about the Chiefs during that time period,” said Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, “it’s impossible not to think about the great defenses, and Derrick was the cornerstone of those defenses.”
Thomas, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in 1989, registered more sacks — 116 1/2 — than any player in the 1990s. A nine-time Pro Bowler (1989-97) and member of the Hall of Fame’s NFL All-Decade Team of the 1990s, he forced a Chiefs-record 45 fumbles; and made 19 fumble recoveries. His four fumble returns for touchdowns and three safeties rank second in NFL history.
Most important, the Chiefs went 102-58 during the decade — the third-best regular-season record in the NFL — made seven playoff appearances during 1990-97, won three AFC West titles and reached the 1993 AFC championship game.
And Arrowhead Stadium, once an oversized, sleepy facility where fans could leave home at 11:30 and still arrive in time for a noon kickoff, became a hot spot as fans arrived early to tailgate and stayed late to celebrate. Kansas City led the league in attendance for six straight seasons (1994-99) and began a sellout streak in 1991 that has reached 149 and counting.
“Derrick could get the crowd going,” said Bill Cowher, the Chiefs defensive coordinator and linebackers coach during 1989-91 who went on to win the Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “For the franchise, he was a marquee player, a player who everyone around the league was talking about. Arrowhead was a tough place to play, and the reason was you couldn’t block Derrick Thomas. The noise got loud … and home stadiums benefit the defense.”
Offensively, the Chiefs of the early 1990s played a ball-control, low-risk offense and leaned heavily on the defense to create turnovers and field position. While the sellout crowds admired coach Marty Schottenheimer’s smash-mouth offense, they reveled in the defense’s big-play ability.
“We had (running backs) Christian Okoye and Barry Word, and their runs were exciting,” said Cowher, now an analyst with CBS Sports, “but there was nothing like a Derrick Thomas sack or the anticipation of his presence and what he could do on the field — that always gave you a chance to know that something special was going to happen, whether it be a turnover, a sack or fumble.
“We certainly had a very talented defense with (defensive backs) Kevin Ross, Albert Lewis, Deron Cherry, Lloyd Burruss … (linebackers) Dino Hackett … Chris Martin … who allowed us to do a lot of things with Derrick because of Chris’ knowledge of the defense and unselfish approach. And Neil Smith flourished when Derrick got there because they couldn’t block them both.”
Indeed, Smith, considered a bust after he was taken with the second pick of the 1988 draft, blossomed as a five-time Pro Bowler and led or tied Thomas for the team lead in sacks for four straight seasons (1992-95).
“When we drafted Derrick, I felt the pressure was off me a little bit,” said Smith, whom Thomas affectionately called his “partner in crime.” When he became the fourth man in the pass rush, I had a lot of one-on-ones, a lot of free rushes.
“We came to grow a bond together and put up some great numbers. That made the 1990s fun.”
Thomas led the NFL with 20 sacks in 1990, including an NFL-record seven sacks on Nov. 11, 1990, against Seattle. It was Veterans Day and Thomas was inspired by a military flyover and dedicated the game to his father, Robert, an Air Force captain who was shot down and killed while flying a mission during the Vietnam War known appropriately enough as Operation Linebacker.
The Veterans Day games seemed to bring out the best in Thomas. The next year, against Denver, inspired by another flyover, he sacked John Elway three times; and in 1992, in another Veterans Day game, he sacked San Diego’s Stan Humphries four times, forcing two fumbles.
And Thomas nearly matched his NFL record on Sept. 6, 1998, when he turned in a six-sack performance, causing a fumble and scoring his club-record third safety in a 28-8 win over Oakland. That gave him two of the three greatest single-game sack performances in NFL history.
Thomas, in an interview with The Star after the six-sack game, explained his secret of the sack.
“It’s a gift to be able to bend my hips, turn the corner. … That’s something I had nothing to do with,” Thomas said. “It’s heredity. My advantage comes with quickness. Everything I do comes off the speed rush.”
Of Thomas’ 126 1/2 career sacks, 32 — or 25 percent — came against Hall of Fame quarterbacks. Thomas sacked Elway the most — 17 times. The other Hall of Fame victims were Buffalo’s Jim Kelly, six; San Francisco’s Steve Young, four; Houston’s Warren Moon, three; and Dallas’ Troy Aikman, two. He also had four sacks of future Hall of Famer Brett Favre and one of Peyton Manning, which will eventually increase the percentage to 29 percent.
The seminal game of the 1990s that signaled the Chiefs had turned from doormat to NFL power was on Oct. 7, 1991, a Monday-night game against defending AFC champion Buffalo. Thomas terrorized Bills quarterback Jim Kelly for four sacks and caused two fumbles in a 33-6 rout of the Bills.
“Everybody always asks me the worst hit I took, the toughest guy to play against,” Kelly said, “and I always bring up Derrick Thomas because when we played in that game, I was dropping back to pass, and he was standing back there waiting for me.
“He was beating me to my drop. He was that quick. Every single time we played against the Chiefs … he was a one-man wrecking machine.”
Thomas also made a big impact in the Kansas City community. The Third and Long reading program to help disadvantaged youths was a one-of-a-kind foundation that helped him receive the prestigious NFL Man of the Year Award in 1993.
“When you look at the Kansas City Chiefs of the past 10 to 15 years, certainly there are names that pop in your mind,” said fellow linebacker Chris Martin. “But the major name that pops up is Derrick Thomas.”
The only blemishes on Thomas’ career were the infamous Monday-night meltdown against the Denver Broncos in 1998, when Thomas was ejected after tangling with Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe, and his failure to reach a Super Bowl. Thomas’ teams were just 3-7 in the postseason, losing home games in 1995 and 1997.
“I played against him from 1990 to 1999 — 18 times, and once in the playoffs,” Sharpe said. “As far as I’m concerned, he was the best pure pass rusher I ever played against. I never got a chance to play against Lawrence Taylor in his prime, and some would argue L.T. had more of an impact.
“But if you looked at when Derrick Thomas played, from 1989 until 1999, he had the most total sacks, he had the most sacks in a game. If there was more of an impact defensive player when he played … you’d be hard-pressed to show me somebody other than L.T., Reggie White and Bruce Smith who had more of an impact on a game from a defensive perspective than Derrick Thomas did.”
from Kansas City.com
