4 minute read

Thurman Thomas

Size Doesn't Matter



Thomas' NFL draft day was one that he thought he'd like to forget. At 5 feet 10 inches tall, Thomas was one of the smaller running backs in the draft. That fact, combined with a knee injury in his senior season, dropped him lower on the list, and he didn't go until the middle of the second round. ESPN, anticipating Thomas would go earlier, wanted to capture Thomas' reaction and sent a camera crew to his house. As Thomas watched the draft, and as player after player went before him, ESPN captured for a national audience Thurman Thomas' growing disappointment. Thomas later took a copy of that tape with him and watched it for motivation during his first few seasons in the NFL, vowing never to forget all of those teams that passed him up.



In spite of his physical hardship that rookie season, Thomas rushed for 881 yards on 207 carries on the season, even though he missed two games with a sore knee. He had found a home with Buffalo and a friend in head coach Marv Levy. Levy's famed "no-huddle" offense and the team's ability to keep the game moving quickly suited Thomas' style, and he became a versatile player, used as both a running back and a receiver. He would amass 1,913 yards in 1989, good enough to lead the league, and then repeat as league leader for the next three seasons.

With Thomas on their team, the Bills had a strong arsenal and began to compete for national championships. In four years prior to Thomas' arrival, the Buffalo Bills had a combined record of 15-40. But things started to click. They went 13-3 in 1990, making it into their first of four straight Super Bowls. Thomas had come off of a stellar season, rushing for 1297 yards, catching forty-nine passes for another 532 yards. Yet despite his combined effort for 190 yards in the title game, the Bills lost 20-19 in the final four seconds on a missed field goal. It would be an omen of bad things to come.

Thomas and the Bills compiled yet another winning season in 1991, going 13-3 again, and making it into Super Bowl XXVI. Thomas' combined yards for the season surpassed 2000, making him only the eleventh player in NFL history to do so, earning him the NFL's Most Valuable Player. But the Bills would lose the Super Bowl to the Washington Redskins.

For the next two seasons Thomas continued to excel on offense. 1992 was his best season, and he led the league in total yards gained, once more surpassing 2000 total yards, and once more making it into the playoffs and to Super Bowl XXVII. But the Bills would lose in a poor performance, getting hammered by the Dallas Cowboys, 52-17.

Thomas finished 1995 with the lowest totals of his career. The Bills would enter their fourth consecutive Super Bowl and hope to walk away with a victory and break whatever curse had been placed on them. But it was not to be.

Thurman Thomas struggled in 1996, though he surpassed 10,000 career yards and gained just over 1000 yards, becoming only the second player to do so in eight consecutive seasons. At the season's end, quarterback Jim Kelly announced his retirement, and Thomas started to think about his own NFL mortality.

Chronology

1966 Born May 16 in Houston, Texas
1970 Parents divorce
1982 Put into starting lineup at Willowridge High School
1984 Finishes high school with 3,918 yards and 48 touchdowns
1984 Chooses Oklahoma State as college where he'll play football
1985 Gains 1650 yards, scoring 15 touchdowns and finishes 10th in Heisman voting as a sophomore
1986 Tears ACL in left knee during pick-up basketball game. Is out first few games of season
1989 Leads NFL in combined total yards, the first of four consecutive seasons
1991 Leads Bills to Super Bowl XXV, first of four consecutive trips (and four straight losses)
1991 Donates $30,000 to the United Negro College Fund and Buffalo chapters of YMCA and Special Olympics
1992 Establishes the Thurman Thomas Foundation, providing inner-city youth with scholarships to a local community college
1995 Thomas has 155 yards rushing in a game against the Steelers, proving to his critics that he's not getting too old to perform
1996 Quarterback Jim Kelly announces retirement, making Thomas think about his own NFL mortality
1997 Bills head coach Marv Levy retires at end of season, and Thomas sees the end of his career approaching
1999 Plays in only five games for the Bills. Leaves team at end of season
2000 Finishes career in Miami
2002 Heads up his business, Thurman Thomas Enterprises, based in Niagara Falls, NY

Awards and Accomplishments

1984 Parade magazine All-American Player of the Year
1984 Houston Touchdown Club's Texas Player of the Year
1984 Gator Bowl Most Valuable Player (as a freshman)
1985, 1987 College All-American
1989-93 NFL Pro Bowl Team
1991 Professional Football Writers Association Player of the Year
1991 NFL's Most Valuable Player
1991 Sporting News NFL Player of the Year
1991 United Press International AFC Offensive Player of the Year
1991 Miller Lite Player of the Year

The Bills picked up running back Antoine Smith in the 1997 draft, and that season, for the first time, Thomas failed to gain 1000 yards rushing. In 1999 he played in only five games for the Bills, and then in 2000 was traded to conference rival Miami, where he would retire at the end of the season.

Additional topics

Famous Sports StarsFootballThurman Thomas Biography - Growing Up, Size Doesn't Matter, Chronology, Awards And Accomplishments, Created A Loud Legacy - CONTACT INFORMATION