Inductees

The dreams are roughly the same for every athlete: Leave a legacy both for the team you play for and the under-served of the community.

Yet the reality is that it’s tough to do, for obvious reasons.

And yet Derrick Thomas made it all look so effortless. Back in the late 1980s, the Kansas City Chiefs were just trying to get off the canvas. Over the next decade after he came aboard, they became annual playoff contenders as Thomas emerged as one of the franchise’s greats. And, on the side, his focus on literacy for school children made a true, positive impact.

That’s the nuts-and bolts-version of why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted Thomas posthumously with the Class of 2021.

Twenty-one years ago, Thomas passed away following a car accident, and his family’s loss was felt throughout the Midwest by so many inspired by Thomas’ play and the mission of his Third and Long Foundation.

He was special from the start. Even before he arrived, actually. At Thomas’ induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, former Chiefs President Carl Peterson (MSHOF 2005) recalled Thomas’ pro day workout at the University of Alabama with then-defensive coordinator Bill Cowher.

“After every drill, Derrick would come back and give us that smile, that unbelievable smile, and say, ‘Coach, what else would you like to see?” Peterson said. “I said, ‘Let’s see more.’ Bill Cowher gave him all the defensive line drills. One drill after another drill, after another. And every time after the drill, Derrick would come over, smile at us and say, ‘What else would you like to see?”

“There were four of his teammates that were working out with us at that time, too,” Peterson added. “And by now they had fallen away, totally exhausted. And Bill Cowher came back and said, ‘I’m running out of drills.’ We said, ‘Let’s see a few more.’ And he drilled him with all the defensive back drills that he knew.”

Was Thomas worn out? Please.

The Chiefs’ No. 1 draft pick in 1989 dominated over the next 11 seasons: 10 career playoff appearances, a Chiefs record nine consecutive Pro Bowls (1989-1997) and a two-time winner (1991, 1994) of the franchise’s MVP trophy, which now bears his name.

Thomas established Chiefs career records for sacks (126.5), safeties (3), fumble recoveries (18) and forced fumbles (45). His 126.5 sacks were the fourth-highest total ever by a linebacker at the time of his death. Thomas produced a club-record 20 sacks in 1990, including an NFL single-game sacks record (7).

The Chiefs, who made only one playoff appearance (1986) between 1972 and 1989, are what you see now: a franchise expected by fans to be a postseason regular.

Over the next eight seasons, the Chiefs were 86-31 and reached the playoffs seven times, including six consecutive seasons from 1990 to 1995.

They won three AFC West Division titles (1994, 1995, 1997) and came within one win of reaching the Super Bowl in January 1994, an 11-win season. They were 13-game winners in 1995 and 1997.

Overall, Thomas played in 169 games (158 starts) and won the 1989 Mack Hill Lee Award.

Those statistics arguably pale in comparison to those of what’s now the Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith Third and Long Foundation, which is still going strong.

Annually, the Foundation works with 58 students in the Kansas City school district – the 58 was Thomas’ jersey number – in an after-school program, with literacy is the goal.

Since 2000, 1,160 students have been reached.

“Derrick wanted to make sure every child could read,” Third and Long Foundation President Betty Brown said, noting that Thomas believed that literacy was the bridge to success.

The Foundation also has gifted four college scholarships annually – two are for $1,000, two are for $500 – and also rewards students field trips to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and a Chiefs game.

Thomas was the 1993 Edge NFL Man of the Year, an award recognizing the player who best combines on-field achievement with civic commitment. That came a year he was named President George H.W. Bush’s 833nd Point of Light, the only NFL athlete to receive the honor at the time.

“We’ve had some great success stories,” Brown said. “We’ve been blessed to be able to make a difference and that’s what Derrick wanted.”

What a legacy indeed.