Bama in the NFL: Derrick Thomas Was One of a Kind for Kansas City Chiefs

Few players in NFL history can compare to the Crimson Tide sack master, the league's NFL Man of the Year in 1993.

Christopher Walsh | Aug 8, 2023

Bama in the NFL: Derrick Thomas Was One of a Kind for Kansas City Chiefs /

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Kansas City Chiefs

The greatest Alabama Crimson Tide football player with the Kansas City Chiefs? It's no disrespect to anyone else who played with the NFL franchise, but the decision is a no-brainer. It's about as easy of a decision as choosing between a good lunch at a neighborhood restaurant and a 5-star gourmet dinner prepared by a renowned chef.

Derrick Thomas was the equivalent of that kind of rating and more. When the Chiefs made Alabama's sack master the fourth-overall selection in the 1989 NFL Draft, team president Carl Peterson called it a new “beginning” for the organization. He recorded 10 sacks that initial season and named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

For an encore, Thomas had 20 sacks in 1990, the fifth-best season in NFL history at that point, and helped lead the Chiefs to the playoffs. While doing so, Thomas set a league single-game record with seven sacks against the Seattle Seahawks, and just missed an eighth when quarterback Dave Krieg was able to slip from his grasp to throw the game-winning touchdown on the final play. Despite the loss on Veteran’s Day, Thomas dedicated his performance to his father, an Air Force pilot killed in Vietnam during Operation Linebacker II.

“I was on a mission today,” Thomas said following the game. “I read in the paper that Derrick Thomas was in a sack slump.”

Thomas established franchise career records for sacks (126.5), safeties (three), fumble recoveries (18), and forced fumbles (45). The 126.5 sacks were the fourth-highest total ever by a linebacker at the time of his death.

Additionally, Thomas started the “Third and Long Foundation” to encourage inner-city reading, received the ’93 NFL Man of the Year Award, the ’95 Byron “Whizzer” White Award from the NFL Players Association, and was President George Bush’s “832nd Point of Light.” He's also been inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and had his jersey number retired by the Chiefs.

“For me, my goals are a lot higher than just being a successful linebacker or being All-Pro,” Thomas said after the 1994 season. “When my career is over, I want people to look back and view me as the best, or one of the two best to ever play the position.”

Bama in the NFL: Kansas City Chiefs

The Franchise

American Football Conference

West Division

Team Colors: Red, Gold and White

Founded: 1960 as the Dallas Texans. The franchise was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), won the league title in 1962 and then moved for the subsequent season.

Stadium: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium (capacity: 73,426)

Playing Surface: Grass

Training Camp: Missouri Western State University

All-Time Alabama Players

Javier Arenas, DB, 2010 - 2012
Tommy Brooker, TE/K, 1963 - 1966
Paul Ott Carruth, RB, 1989
Tim Castille, RB, 2009 - 2010
Brodie Croyle, QB, 2006 - 2010
Ricky Davis, DB, 1977
Gehrig Dieter, WR, 2018 - 2020
Wallace Gilberry, DE, 2008 - 2011
Dennis Homan, WR, 1971 - 1972
Billy Jackson, RB, 1981 - 1985
Nico Johnson, LB, 2013
Le'Ron McClain, RB, 2011
Mark McMillian, DB, 1997 - 1998
DeQuan Menzie, DB, 2012
Daniel Pope, P, 1999
Reggie Ragland, LB, 2017 - 2019
Jarran Reed, DT, 2021
Kenny Smith, DT, 2009
Damion Square, DE, 2014
Derrick Thomas, LB, 1989 - 1999

Crimson Tide Drafted Players

Year	Player	Pos.	Round	Pick	Overall
1968	Bobby Johns	S	12	20	320
1981	Billy Jackson	RB	7	14	180
1989	Derrick Thomas	LB	1	4	4
2006	Brodie Croyle	QB	3	21	85
2010	Javier Arenas	CB	2	18	50
2012	DeQuan Menzie	CB	5	11	146
2013	Nico Johnson	LB	4	2	99

Super Bowl Appearances

Tommy Brooker, Super Bowl I (Jan. 15, 1967)

The Chiefs took a 35-10 loss in the AFL-NFL World Championship Game that was renamed the Super Bowl retroactively.

Gehrig Dieter, Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2, 2020); Super Bowl LV (Feb. 7, 2021)

The Chiefs beat the 49ers, 31-20, but lost to the Buccaneers, 31-9.

Reggie Ragland, Super Bowl LIV (Feb. 2, 2020)

The linebacker was credited with two tackles to help the Chiefs beat the 49ers. It was Kansas City's first Super Bowl victory in 50 years.

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Reggie Ragland (59) celebrates after defeating the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium. — Reggie Ragland (59) celebrates after the Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Major Awards/Honors

All-Pro

Derrick Thomas (2): 1990, 1991

Pro Bowl

Derrick Thomas (9): 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996. 1997

Tommy Brooker (1): 1964

Pro Football Hall of Fame

Derrick Thomas

Retired Jersey

No. 58, Derrick Thomas

Other Derrick Thomas honors

"Whizzer" White NFL Man of the Year Award (1995)
NFL Man of the Year (1993)
Kansas City Chiefs Hall of Fame
NFL 1990s All-Decade Team
NFL sacks leader (1990)
NFL forced fumbles leader (1990, 1992)
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year (1989)

In conjunction with our revamped Bama in the NFL Database, this is the 16th story in a series examining the team-by-team history of Alabama's former players in the NFL.

AFC

NFC