Thomas Receives Posthumous Degree
May 13, 2000
Former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas always promised his mother and grandmother he would get his college degree.
They were around to see it happen, even if he wasn't.
The University of Alabama awarded Thomas a posthumous bachelor of arts degree in criminal justice and social welfare Saturday. His mother, Edith Morgan, and grandmother, Annie Adams were on hand to accept the honor.
Thomas was 33 when he died Feb. 8 from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was left paralyzed from the chest down when the car he was driving flipped Jan. 23 on an icy road in Missouri.
Adams had often declined her grandson's invitations to Kansas City for games.
"I told him that the only reason I was going to leave Florida was to come here and watch him get his degree," said Adams. "Derrick's education was extremely important to him, but it was also important to me. Every time I would see him I'd say, 'Go back to school and get your degree."'
Morgan said her son was 15 credit hours short of the degree. He had been taking courses at Missouri-Kansas City.
Carl Peterson, the Chiefs' President and general manager, and other Kansas City and NFL officials attended Saturday's ceremony.
"This was something that was undone that he wanted to complete," Peterson said.
"And now it's going to happen. I don't know that I've ever been around a National Football League player who has given of himself so much and given to so many."
Thomas was an All-American at Alabama and won the Butkus Award in 1989 as the nation's top linebacker. He was a first-round draft choice of Kansas City in the 1989 NFL draft and made the Pro Bowl nine times while playing for the Chiefs.
He was also a two-time NFL Man of the Year.
"It's just amazing how one person has done so much," said Dave Adolf, Thomas's position coach with the Chiefs. "His contribution to people and to kids was just incredible, second to nobody that I've ever known.
"He simply epitomized the Kansas City Chiefs for a long time."
Guy Troupe, director of player programs for the NFL, said Thomas was "the poster child" for NFL Programs.
"He exemplified all the things that we're about in terms of off-the-field development and character and just trying to get better as a person," Troupe said.
For Morgan, the degree was yet another special Mother's Day present from her son. Three years ago, he gave her a Cadillac, and this year he had talked about getting her a truck.
"Mother's Day was always one of his special times," she said. "He's that special kind of person. He'd bring you a car with a big bow on top, or anything that was special.
"He was always looking to do something extraordinary."
