Thomas Looks to Regain His Form & Reputation
Aug. 6, 1999
Last time a Monday Night Football audience saw Derrick Thomas, he looked like a man attempting -- with great success -- to make a fool of himself.
As central villain in a nationally televised debacle, the nine-time Pro Bowler had a big hand in making his head coach weep and his owner declare the entire organization "disgraced."
Five times in Denver's final touchdown drive during a 30-7 victory in Kansas City, the Chiefs drew personal foul penalties. And Thomas, his temper out of control and his poise destroyed, had three -- each one a blatant and deliberate violation.
In retrospect, that one drive was a perfect summary for the Chiefs' most disappointing season since their 1986 playoff team bombed in 1987.
Thomas, a Pro Bowler every year since he'd been drafted in the first round in 1989, missed the Pro Bowl. In the last 15 games, the sack master had only six sacks and endured criticism that he had become one-dimensional.
The Chiefs, the Super Bowl favorites of many experts, limped home 7-9 with their first losing season since Marty Schottenheimer and Thomas had joined the team within months of each other.
Thomas was suspended for a game and apologized to fans and "the youth of America." Schottenheimer, at the end of the season, quit.
Now Gunther Cunningham, the former defensive coordinator, is head coach. And Thomas, trimmed down and seemingly more subdued than in the past, appears to be working hard the first week of training camp.
"The thing I like about it now is he's completely focused on the game," said Cunningham, who spent the previous four years as the Chiefs' defensive coordinator.
"He's extremely focused."
He's also playing a different position. Gone is the "Falcon Defense," of the two past years, which was supposedly designed specifically with Thomas in mind and had him playing defensive end. Now he's back at the "base" linebacker spot where he was known as one of the most feared pass-rushers in the league.
Instead of being the No. 1 man on the entire defense, he's just one of 11.
"I don't think it's much different than it's always been," said Thomas, who has trimmed almost 10 pounds off his 1998 weight and is down to about 240. "My job is to go out and make plays from the base linebacker position."
Another big plus could be the arrival of Dave Adolph as linebackers coach. Adolph was linebacker coach from 1992-94 when Thomas was at his zenith.
"I have reunited him with his father," Cunningham said.
The two obviously are close.
"Coach Adolph and I are very familiar with each other," Thomas said. "He was my coach for four or five years in my career. Now he's back. I think it's a good marriage. He's got a way of doing things. He's done it for many, many years."
On the matter of the Monday night debacle, Thomas is keeping mum.
"That's your issue," he told an interviewer, a stern look crossing his face. "You brought that up. I didn't."
As a unit, the Chiefs may have upgraded their linebacker corps from a year ago. Ten-year veteran Marvcus Patton, signed as an unrestricted free agent, should supply more heft and muscle inside, freeing free-wheeling Donnie Edwards to move to his more natural position as an outside linebacker.
If Thomas has a rebound season, the Kansas City defense could come close to the unit that led the NFL in fewest points allowed just two years ago.
And while he is reluctant to talk about it, friends say Thomas is indeed determined to regain both his Pro Bowl status and his good name.
"I think Derrick Thomas is a wonderful young person," said Kurt Schottenheimer, who succeeded Cunningham as defensive coordinator.
"He's been good in the Kansas City community."
Schottenheimer makes clear his own disdain for dredging up the Monday Night meltdown.
"To continue to belabor on that point -- he made a mistake. It's time to move on," he said.
"I hope his motivation is to come back and have an outstanding year, and it has nothing to do with that. I've certainly forgotten about it. If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't have thought about it."
Fair enough. But can Thomas return to the form that made him a Pro Bowl regular? Or, despite a vigorous off-season conditioning program, is he sliding inevitably into that natural decline that all athletes must eventually accept with the passing years?
"Let's just wait and see," said Schottenheimer.
from jefferson city news tribune
