With all this talk about steroids, cheating, and pro athletes that do or don’t belong continuing their careers, now is the perfect time to celebrate someone who stood for the opposite of all this…Derrick Thomas.  DT was a stand-up guy with no “excess baggage” who had his brilliant career tragically taken from him.  (He didn’t throw it away by gambling, drinking and driving, vehicular man-slaughter, or injected himself with needle drugs).

DT struck fear into the hearts of quarterbacks, and kept offensive coordinators up countless nights while trying to prepare for him

Thomas made a name for himself in college with the Alabama Crimson Tide.  His senior season was most memorable as he set the record for single season sacks with 27 (amazing).  He won the Butkus Award that year and finished 10^th in the Heisman voting.  DT was then drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs with the fourth pick in the first round of the 1989 draft and immediately became a dominant force in the NFL.

Thomas could play linebacker, stand-up defensive end, or defensive lineman.  His versatility, strength, and speed made him a nightmare for offensive tackles and of course, quarterbacks.  His old defensive coordinator, Gunther Cunningham, referred to him as “a rare find, a running back that played d-line.”  Thomas received the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award in ’89, a year that saw the rookie pile up 10 sacks.  The three-time All-Pro will always be remembered for his remarkable performance against the Seattle Seahawks back in 1990 on Veteran’s Day.  DT set the single game sack record with seven, a game that Chiefs’ fans – and Seattle QB Dave Krieg – will never forget.

Thomas played 11 seasons for Kansas City; he made the Pro Bowl for nine of them.  He won the Walter Payton Man of the Year Award and 1993 because of his hard work on, and off, the field.  He is just one of only 22 NFL players to achieve 100 or more sacks, and ranks fifth all-time in Chiefs’ history with 649 career tackles.  He got to the quarterback 126.5 times and he also managed to snatch himself an interception, as well as scoop up 19 fumbles, which he then returned for a total of 161 yards and four touchdowns. Number 58 holds several Chiefs’ records.  He is the all-time leader in sacks, safeties, fumble recoveries, and forced fumbles in team history.

The record-setting game against Seattle saw a lot of this...Dave Krieg getting destroyed.

Sadly, on January 23, 2000, Thomas was heading to Kansas City International Airport to catch a flight to see the NFC Championship game in St. Louis.  Reports claimed he was running behind and trying to make the plane despite snowy conditions.  Thomas lost control of his vehicle and crashed.

He and his front seat passenger were thrown from the car – both not wearing seatbelts – and he was instantly paralyzed from the chest down.  On February 8^th, 2000, one of the blood clots that had formed in his paralyzed legs made its way to his lungs and took his life at the age of 33.  Nine years later, DT finally claimed his rightful spot in the NFL Hall of Fame.  He was inducted into the Class of 2009 along with Bruce Smith, Randall McDaniel, Bob Hayes, Rod Woodson, and Buffalo Bills’ owner Ralph Wilson.  Thomas’ 11-year career was the foundation for what has been called one of the league’s greatest rebuilding jobs.

He wasn’t a guy who got caught with drugs or alcohol, he was just a guy who was hurrying to the airport and his only crime was not wearing a seatbelt.  No suspension for Thomas, no jail-time, no settling in Civil Court, just a foundation in his name setup by his mother – MomsToMoms58 – that stresses to educate the importance of wearing a seatbelt…until now.  Now this amazing, yet classy, pro athlete finally has what he deserves, a bust in the place where the best of the best reside – the NFL Hall of Fame.

DT's son Darrion Thomas, left, and presenter Carl Peterson, right, stand with a bronze bust of DT during the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction ceremony at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Saturday, Aug. 8, 2009, in Canton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)