Linebacking great to be honored at halftime Sunday Aaron Wilson
The late, great outside linebacker Derrick Thomas will have his No. 58 jersey retired by the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Pro Football Hall of Fame will make a special presentation to the Thomas family during a halftime ceremony at Arrowhead on Sunday.
Fans are being encouraged to wear their No. 58 jerseys as the Chiefs organization honors Thomas’ memory.
Thomas was enshrined as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009 in Canton last summer.
Thomas will be the 10th player in franchise history to have his jersey retired, joining kicker Jan Stenerud (No. 3), quarterback Len Dawson (No. 16), cornerback Emmitt Thomas (No. 18), running back Abner Haynes (No. 28), running back Stone Johnson (No. 33), running back Mack Lee Hill (No. 36), linebacker Willie Lanier (No. 63), linebacker Bobby Bell (No. 78) and defensive tackle Buck Buchanan (No. 86).
Thomas was posthumously inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 2001, and the club’s Most Valuable Player Award was subsequently renamed in his honor as the Derrick Thomas Award.
Thomas was the fourth overall selection in the ’89 NFL Draft out of the University of Alabama. A nine-time Pro Bowl selection, Thomas registered a franchise-record 126.5 career sacks. He also holds Chiefs records for career safeties (three), forced fumbles (45) and fumble recoveries (19). Only two players in NFL history own more safeties or fumble return touchdowns than Thomas' four.
A member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s NFL All-Decade Team of the 1990s, no player recorded more sacks during that decade than Thomas (116.5). He established a single-season franchise record with 20 sacks in 1990, including an NFL single-game record seven sacks against the Seattle Seahawks.
Thomas died in his hometown of Miami on Feb. 8, 2000 after suffering a serious auto accident in Kansas City, Missouri on Jan. 23, 2000.
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I am so glad that Derrick Thomas's jersey will be retired on Sunday. He was the best outside linebacker the Chiefs have ever had. It was a sad day when we lost him in 2000. I will definitely be wearing my jersey on Sunday. Maybe that will finally give the Chiefs good luck that they definitely need.
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Dec 02, 2009
10:07 AM
I am glad to here they are retiring Derrick Thomas's jersey. He was the best outside linebacker the chiefs ever had. It was a very sad day when we lost him back in 2000, and he deserves the recognition. I will definitely be wearing my thomas jersey on Sunday.