Derrick Thomas Biography - Growing Up, Roll Tide To Kansas City, Career Statistics, Awards And Accomplishments, A Tragic End
chiefs
1967-2000
American football player
Derrick Thomas
As a linebacker, Derrick Thomas was a presence feared by opposing quarterbacks. He possessed great quickness and unbelievable strength, and always found a way to bring down the ball carrier. Consistently at the top of his game, Thomas was a perennial selection for the Pro Bowl, and in ten seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, became not only a dominant force on the field, but also a big part of the community through his generous giving and charitable work.
In what can only be described as a tragic loss, Thomas was paralyzed when his Suburban truck flipped on the icy roads near the Kansas City airport on January 23, 2000. He died only a few weeks later, on February 8, leaving an empty space both Kansas City and the Chiefs know they can never fill.
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Derrick Thomas was born on January 1, 1967, in Miami, Florida. Chiefs fans know well the story of Thomas' childhood. When Derrick was 5, the North Vietnamese shot down his father, Robert James Thomas, an air force pilot, while he was piloting a B-52 Bomber. He was declared missing in action. Edith Morgan, his mother, and Annie Adams, his grandmother, would raise Derrick. After his father wa…
Marty Schottenheimer had been brought in to turn around the Kansas City Chiefs organization that fared poorly throughout much of the 1980s. His first order of business was to draft Thomas, picked fourth over-all by the Chiefs in the 1989 draft. Thomas made an immediate impact, recording ten sacks and fifty-five quarterback pressures. The Associated Press awarded him their Defensive Rookie of the Y…
Not wanting to miss the 1999 postseason, even if he could only to watch from the stands, Derrick Thomas, while driving to the Kansas City airport on January 23, 2000, was paralyzed when his truck flipped several times on the icy Interstate. He died only a few weeks later, on February 8. Derrick Thomas was more than just a stellar athlete; he was an outstanding and giving human being. His Third and…
Newsmakers 2000, Issue 3. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Oblender, David G. (ed.) Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 25. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000. Sports Stars. Series 1-4. U•X•L, 1994-98. Thomas, Derrick. Forever a Chief: DT Always Giving Back. Chicago: Triumph Books, 2000. Chicago Tribune (February 9, 2000). Football Digest (February 1995). Jet (February 21, 1994). Kansas City Star …
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